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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2009

The Yang-Mills field strength revisited

The Yang-Mills field strength incorporating a non-Abelian feature is one of the cornerstones of the standard model. Although Yang-Mills gauge theories have been around for over fifty years, surprisingly the derivation of the Yang-Mills field strength using classical gauge theory does not appear anywhere in the literature. In their 1954 paper, Yang and Mills had to invent a non-Abelian field strength to satisfy certain criteria. In Section 5 we use Yang's gauge transformation in a heuristic derivation of the Yang-Mills field strength. The preceding sections cover material relating to the derivation. Section 3 shows where Pauli in the article cited by Yang and Mills gives an expression for the electro-magnetic field strength in terms of a commutator. For some reason, Yang and Mills did not use this approach.

math-ph↗
arXiv2008

A calendar Quipu of the early 17th century and its relationship with the Inca astronomy

The so-called Miccinelli documents are a set of documents which were written by Jesuit scholars in Peru within the first half of the 17th century. Among such documents, one contains the depiction of a Quipu, that is, a device made out of cords of different nature and colors which, with the help of nodes, were used by the Incas for storing data. This Quipu is claimed by the author, Blas Valera, to be a reproduction of the Inca calendar of the year of the Spanish conquest. We give here a complete analysis of the astronomical events occurred in Cusco in that year, showing that they actually correspond closely to the data reported in the Quipu, and compare the calendrical information - such as the names and the rituals of each month - with those given by other documents, especially the Nuova Coronica by G. Poma de Ayala. The possible relevance of the document for the knowledge of the original Inca lore of the sky is discussed in details.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

Econophysics: historical perspectives

Econophysics embodies the recent upsurge of interest by physicists into financial economics, driven by the availability of large amount of data, job shortage in physics and the possibility of applying many-body techniques developed in statistical and theoretical physics to the understanding of the self-organizing economy. This brief historical survey emphasizes that Econophysics has many historical precursors, and is in fact rooted in a continuous cross-fertilization between economics and physics that has been active in the last centuries.

q-fin.GN↗
arXiv2008

Bateman On Light: Synchrotron Rays

For over a century physicists have sought a mathematical theory that unites the dual, wave and corpuscle, behaviors that light exhibits. In the early twentieth century H. Bateman was studying a solution that uses wave functions with singularities to mark light quanta location in space and time as potential singularities do for material particles. He published an incomplete, mathematically obtuse paper applying his scheme to presciently predict synchrotron rays well before they were experimentally observed. Here, I clarify the presentation in Bateman's paper and supply a missing demonstration that it does predict results observed nearly four decades later.

physics.gen-ph↗
arXiv2008

Crime and punishment in scientific research

Typical arguments against scientific misconduct generally fail to support current policies on research fraud: they may not prove wrong what is usually considered research misconduct and they tend to make wrong things that are not normally seen as scientific fraud, in particular honest errors. I also point out that sanctions are not consistent with the reasons why scientific fraud is supposed to be wrong either. Moreover honestly seeking truth should not be contrived as a moral rule -- it is instead a necessary condition for work to qualify as scientific. Keywords: cheating; ethics; fabrication; falsification; integrity; plagiarism; research fraud; scientific misconduct.

physics.soc-ph↗
arXiv2011

The relativity of inertia and reality of nothing

We first see that the inertia of Newtonian mechanics is absolute and troublesome. General relativity can be viewed as Einstein's attempt to remedy, by making inertia relative, to matter---perhaps imperfectly though, as at least a couple of freedom degrees separate inertia from matter in his theory. We consider ways the relationist (for whom it is of course unwelcome) can try to overcome such undetermination, dismissing it as physically meaningless, especially by insisting on the right transformation properties.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

Einstein's E = mc^2 mistakes

Although Einstein's name is closely linked with the celebrated relation E = mc2 between mass and energy, a critical examination of the more than half dozen "proofs" of this relation that Einstein produced over a span of forty years reveals that all these proofs suffer from mistakes. Einstein introduced unjustified assumptions, committed fatal errors in logic, or adopted low-speed, restrictive approximations. He never succeeded in producing a valid general proof applicable to a realistic system with arbitrarily large internal and external (that is, translational) speeds. The first such general proof was produced by Max Laue in 1911 (for "closed" systems with a time-independent energy-momentum tensor) and it was generalized by Felix Klein in 1918 (for arbitrary time-dependent "closed" systems).

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

Does the Higgs Mechanism Exist?

This paper explores the argument structure of the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the electroweak gauge theory of the Standard Model: the so-called Higgs mechanism. As commonly understood, the Higgs argument is designed to introduce the masses of the gauge bosons by a spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry of an additional field, the Higgs field. The technical derivation of the Higgs mechanism, however, consists in a mere re-shuffling of degrees of freedom by transforming the Higgs Lagrangian in a gauge-invariant manner. This already raises serious doubts about the adequacy of the entire manoeuvre. It will be shown that no straightforward ontic interpretation of the Higgs mechanism is tenable since gauge transformations possess no real instantiations. In addition, the explanatory value of the Higgs argument will be critically examined.

physics.gen-ph↗
arXiv2008

An Essay on the Application of mathematical Analysis to the theories of Electricity and Magnetism

Green's famous essay (Nottingham, 1828), with which he introduced the potential function, was transcribed from its reprint in Crelle's Journal (1850-54), with several typographical corrections and a reference section added. Green starts with accounts of earlier work, and some introductory remarks motivating his notation and method. Then, he gives a textual summary of later formal calculations, beginning with the general results. Finally, Green applies the results to several problems concerning electricity and magnetism.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

Entropy, Probability and Dynamics

Boltzmann's struggle with a derivation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is sketched. So is his first derivation of the connection between entropy and probability in 1877. Planck's derivation and quantum mechanical modifications of Boltzmann's connection between entropy probability are given next. Then Einstein's objections to a purely probabilistic rather than a dynamical interpretation of entropy are discussed. Finally, the dynamical basis of the Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen distribution for very chaotic systems is sketched and appears to be an example of Einstein's dynamical interpretation of entropy.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

A dialectical view of the variational principles of mechanics

The aim of this work is to provide a possible philosophical motivation to the variational principles of physics in general and a possible way to unify the axiomatizations of mechanics theories. The leitmotif of this work is a dialectical view of the world: any smooth motion in nature is the consequence of the interplay and dynamical balance between pairs of opposite elements of the motion. We stress that the opposite property here differs from the common sense of opposing elements (of conflicting appearance but of same nature) such action/reaction forces between two bodies. The opposite elements here are incompatible and mutual exclusive in nature, with contrasting and complementary characteristics such as active/passive, disorder/order, curvature/flatness, etc. The dynamical balance is defined by an invariant variational relationship between all the pairs of opposite elements active in the considered motion. From this idea, an axiomatization of quantum mechanics is proposed in addition to the derivation of several existing variational principles of mechanics.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

Objects In Telescope Are Farther Than They Appear: How diffraction tricked Galileo into mismeasuring the distances to the stars

Galileo determined distances to stars based on the assumption that stars were suns, the apparent sizes of stars as seen through his telescope, and basic geometry. However, the apparent sizes that he measured were the result of diffraction and not related to the actual sizes of the stars. Galileo's methods and observations were good, but since he was unknowingly observing diffraction artifacts and not the physical bodies of stars he greatly underestimated the distances to the stars.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2008

Dark matter, dark energy and modern cosmology: the case for a Kuhnian paradigm shift

Several works in the last few years devoted to measure fundamental probes of contemporary cosmology have suggested the existence of a delocalized dominant component (the "dark energy"), in addition to the several-decade-old evidence for "dark matter" other than ordinary baryons, both assuming the description of gravity to be correct. Either we are faced to accept the ignorance of at least 95 % of the content of the universe or consider a deep change of the conceptual framework to understand the data. Thus, the situation seems to be completely favorable for a Kuhnian paradigm shift in either particle physics or cosmology. We attempt to offer here a brief discussion of these issues from this particular perspective, arguing that the situation qualifies as a textbook Kuhnian anomaly, and offer a tentative identification of some of the actual elements typically associated with the paradigm shift process "in the works" in contemporary science.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2012

Climate Science: Is it currently designed to answer questions?

For a variety of inter-related cultural, organizational, and political reasons, progress in climate science and the actual solution of scientific problems in this field have moved at a much slower rate than would normally be possible. Not all these factors are unique to climate science, but the heavy influence of politics has served to amplify the role of the other factors. Such factors as the change in the scientific paradigm from a dialectic opposition between theory and observation to an emphasis on simulation and observational programs, the inordinate growth of administration in universities and the consequent increase in importance of grant overhead, and the hierarchical nature of formal scientific organizations are cosidered. This paper will deal with the origin of the cultural changes and with specific examples of the operation and interaction of these factors. In particular, we will show how political bodies act to control scientific institutions, how scientists adjust both data and even theory to accommodate politically correct positions, and how opposition to these positions is disposed of.

physics.soc-ph↗
arXiv2008

Aspects of dual models many years ago

Invited contribution to the collection of articles: `The Birth of String Theory', edited by Andrea Cappelli, Elena Castellani, Filippo Colomo and Paolo Di Vecchia.

hep-th↗
arXiv2008

Factorization in Dual Models and Functional Integration in String Theory

This article contains a summary of the author's contributions, one in collaboration with K. Bardakci, to dual models and string theory prior to the mid-seventies. Other workers' contributions, during and subsequent to this period, are mentioned in order to relate our work to the general development of the subject

hep-th↗