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Science and Math Glossary

DarkCloud
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Posted 02/17/04 - 07:45 PM:	#1
Okay, since it was asked, I'm starting this thread... it's just a glossary on some of the basic terms in Science to clarify theories, etc. for all posters. It's not complete as of yet, but I'm looking to actually research the terms rather than just posting my probably partially correct half-remembered understandings of them. Websites For You To Use- Wikipedia (A human edited dictionary) http://www.daviddarling.info/ The Glossary- String Theory An important theory in modern physics in which the fundamental particles in nature are thought of as the "musical notes" or excitation modes of elementary strings. These strings have the shortest meaningful length, known as the Planck length (equal to about 10-33 cm), but no thickness, and for the theory to make sense, the universe must have nine space dimensions and one time dimension, for a total of ten dimensions. This idea of a ten-dimensional universe was first mooted in the Kaluza-Klein theory. We're familiar with time and three of the space dimensions: the other six together are known as Calabi-Yau spaces. In string theory, as in a stringed instrument, the string must be stretched under tension in order to become excited. This tension is fantastically high - equivalent to a loading of about 1039 tons. String theories are classified according to whether or not the strings are required to be closed loops, and whether or not the particle spectrum includes fermions. In order to include fermions in string theory, there must be a special kind of symmetry called supersymmetry, which means that for every boson (a particle, of integral spin, that transmits a force) there is a corresponding fermion (a particle, of half-integral spin, that makes up matter). So supersymmetry relates the particles that transmit forces to the particles that make up matter. Supersymmetric partners to currently known particles have not been observed in particle experiments, but theorists believe this is because supersymmetric particles are too massive to be detected using present-day high-energy accelerators. Particle accelerators could be on the verge of finding evidence for high energy supersymmetry in the next decade. Evidence for supersymmetry at high energy would be compelling evidence that string theory was a good mathematical model for nature at the smallest distance scales. In string theory, all of the properties of elementary particles - charge, mass, spin, etc - come from the vibration of the string. The easiest to see is mass. The more frantic the vibration, the more energy. And since mass and energy are the same thing, higher mass comes from higher vibration. From: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/stringtheory.html

DarkCloud
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Posted 02/17/04 - 07:55 PM:	#2
If you have any requests for definitions, or have researched any that are requested, please post them here, and I'll try to update this thread.

unid
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Posted 02/21/04 - 11:02 AM:	#3
Can i have a definition of Planck as in thick as two short plancks
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DarkCloud
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Posted 02/21/04 - 06:08 PM:	#4
Planck's Constant In 1900, Max Planck was working on the problem of how the radiation an object emits is related to its temperature. He came up with a formula that agreed very closely with experimental data, but the formula only made sense if he assumed that the energy of a vibrating molecule was quantized--that is, it could only take on certain values. The energy would have to be proportional to the frequency of vibration, and it seemed to come in little "chunks" of the frequency multiplied by a certain constant. This constant came to be known as Planck's constant, or h, and it has the value h= 6.6261*10^-34 J/S (Joule-Seconds) http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/quantumzone/photoelectric2.html and Check out the Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plancks_constant for more information!

dreamweaver
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Posted 02/22/04 - 04:54 AM:	#5
A great link that I found some time ago on String Theory: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/ While we're on Planck: Planck Length http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae281.cfm http://musr.physics.ubc.ca/~jess/hr/skept/QM1D/node7.html http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/planck/node2.html Planck Time http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae281.cfm http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/PlanckTime.html http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/planck_time.html In summary, the Planck units: Length: (h G / c3)1/2 ≈ 1.6 × 10-35 meters (the Planck length) Mass: (c h / G)1/2 ≈ 2.1 × 10-8 kilograms (the Planck mass) Time: (h G / c5)1/2≈ 5.4 × 10-44 seconds (the Planck time) Temperature: (c5 h / G)1/2 / k ≈ 1.4 × 1032 kelvin (the Planck temperature) Density: (Planck Mass / (Planck Length)3) ≈ 5.1 × 1096 kilograms/meters3 (the Planck density) http://www.phatnav.com/wiki/wiki.phtml?title=Planck_units
Dos moi pou sto kai kino taen gaen. ~ Archimedes

unid
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Posted 02/22/04 - 11:09 AM:	#6
Thank you i wasn't sure if there was a planck unit of measure. I like the Pascal quote too must seek him out.
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thejoe526
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Posted 02/22/04 - 11:24 AM:	#7
quantum theory please
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top mosker
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Posted 02/22/04 - 11:53 AM:	#8
thanks a lot for the links, that site is EXTREMELY useful. Maybe you should edit your first message to make the master list instead of replying to each request individualy. I see this getting too out of control and too hard to search very quickly.
"...The eternal charade of the middle-class intellectuals - Behold my wings! Freedom! Flight! - but you don't actually expect me to jump off that cliff, do you?" - Tom Wolfe The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test

ambulafia
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Posted 02/22/04 - 12:09 PM:	#9
THEJOE, what exactly do you want to know about QM?

The Bearded Monkey
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Posted 03/01/04 - 11:36 AM:	#10
A survey article given by Timothy Gowers with the title "Does mathematics need a philosophy?"- http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~wtg10/philosophy.html havent yet read it but from giving it a look it seem it dicusses what is a number, axiom of choice, provability...
i shall take the whichpath to quantum catastrophe theory.

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