https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_effect Theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli. Every time he entered an experimental physics laboratory the equipment would break down. He was giving off too much energy. At one point they banned him from entering the laboratories. This happened to other theoretical physicists later.

Do you use a service that, say, sends you a morning email with the new papers in your specific field of research? How do you keep up with new papers?

This is a dedicated thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in physics.

If you need to make an important decision regarding your future, or want to know what your options are, please feel welcome to post a comment below.

A few years ago we held a graduate student panel, where many recently accepted grad students answered questions about the application process. That thread is here, and has a lot of great information in it.

Helpful subreddits: /r/PhysicsStudents, /r/GradSchool, /r/AskAcademia, /r/Jobs, /r/CareerGuidance

Hey guys, question is the title. Be it particle acceleration, general relativity, or even some of the more ‘out there’ topics. I minored in physics about a decade ago now, so I don’t think I possess the facilities to meaningfully dig into research. I’d love some casual reading like blog posts, or maybe an online subscription of some sort.

This thread is a dedicated thread for you to ask and answer questions about concepts in physics.

Homework problems or specific calculations may be removed by the moderators. We ask that you post these in /r/AskPhysics or /r/HomeworkHelp instead.

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Hello Everyone,

Not sure if this might be more suited to a more specific subreddit, but I'm sure this will one do.

I'm currently in the process of studying physics and cosmology, and as someone with some programming knowledge, I thought it would be fun to calculate the age of the universe using Python with math libraries as a way to learn more. I wish to make a calculation a fair bit more precise and in line with current cosmological understanding rather than, for example, a simpler equation that assumes a constant rate of expansion.

My goal is to approach the problem with as few assumptions as possible and to build the necessary mathematical models and equations from scratch (within reason). I'm particularly interested in using observational data to calculate the required cosmological parameters and ultimately the age of the universe. I'm relatively comfortable with mathematics, including intermediate calculus, which I assume will be sufficient.

As a rough outline, I'm hoping to begin with plotting the Hubble diagram and determining a value for the Hubble constant using the redshift magnitude, recessional velocity, and distance data related to Type Ia supernovae; determining and refining values for a mathematical model of the expansion of the universe with the lamba-CDM model and Friedmann equations; and finally using this to make an accurate calculation. This appears to be a suitable strategy.

I'm searching for sources of data that I can download and use in my calculations. I've searched https://www.wiserep.org/search/spectra, which is promising but unfortunately doesn't allow me to download the data for some reason.

From what I've figured so far, I'll mainly require the following data:

• Spectroscopic Data - Type Ia Supernovae or Potentially Cepheid Variable - For determining the magnitude of redshift and the recessional velocity
• B-band Magnitude Data for Distance Modulus Calculation - For the above objects (Not sure if this would normally be included)
• Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) - Data from the CMB that will assist in calculating/refining certain cosmological parameters, including particular density values, geometric properties of the universe, and others that are present in the Lambda-CDM model and the Friedmann equations.
• Any other suggestions for data to collect that might assist

I'm happy to share the results via a GitHub repo or something similar once completed if anyone is interested. If anyone knows any websites or other materials that I may find useful, please let me know. Also, if I'm potentially operating out of my depth with any of the material here, let me know, and I can change strategies to something a little more simple.

I understand this is quite an in-depth inquiry, and I don't expect a comprehensive answer (researching myself is part of the fun), but I thought I’d reach out in case anyone has any insights or advice they’d be willing to share. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, and I’m grateful for any help offered!

What is something that you studied that completely changed your previous conceptions of life/how things function?

I've been posting videos on this subreddit lately from my channel that cover higher level Math and Physics in rigorous detail.

Some popular series include:

1. Tensors.
2. Special Relativity.
3. Quantum Mechanics (Background) and Quantum Mechanics.
4. PDEs.

If you're interested in any of this, I encourage you to check it out!

This is a thread dedicated to collating and collecting all of the great recommendations for textbooks, online lecture series, documentaries and other resources that are frequently made/requested on /r/Physics.

If you're in need of something to supplement your understanding, please feel welcome to ask in the comments.

Similarly, if you know of some amazing resource you would like to share, you're welcome to post it in the comments.

This is a dedicated thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in physics.

If you need to make an important decision regarding your future, or want to know what your options are, please feel welcome to post a comment below.

A few years ago we held a graduate student panel, where many recently accepted grad students answered questions about the application process. That thread is here, and has a lot of great information in it.

Helpful subreddits: /r/PhysicsStudents, /r/GradSchool, /r/AskAcademia, /r/Jobs, /r/CareerGuidance

There has been debate as my department begins deciding on our Fall grad students.. and it seemingly is coming down to weird details like this between some of the final picks. I’m not involved in the decision making but it got me thinking about what is considered better to some people?

This thread is a dedicated thread for you to ask and answer questions about concepts in physics.

Homework problems or specific calculations may be removed by the moderators. We ask that you post these in /r/AskPhysics or /r/HomeworkHelp instead.

If you find your question isn't answered here, or cannot wait for the next thread, please also try /r/AskScience and /r/AskPhysics.

So, what do u all do for living after graduating with a physics degree. If you are in Academia, what are u working on and does it pay well?

https://home.cern/news/news/physics/alice-finds-first-ever-evidence-antimatter-partner-hyperhelium-4?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaa8nR_IbiUQZAPFeqGPMPH4QH3hiVfmOxifd4IRB7AeNdRgsc58CMDITTs_aem_oYYyx-5rSXYNogRo4G2tSw

I am a 1st year Theoretical Physics but I am slowly realising I am bad at Physics and okay at Maths. Then, I wondered whether Mathematical Physics is more ideal for me.

Anyway, my question is: how exactly does it differ between a physicists and a mathematician doing maths?

Obviously we have different research topics but other than that, let's assume a physicist and a mathematician is approaching the same problem. What would the difference be? The obvious one I have in mind is how rigorous we are (my maths module lecturer from the physics department literally doesn't care about the modulus for , say, integral 1/x dx)

Hey guys! You all probably know what a cloud chamber is (if not, it's basically the simplest particle detector you can build at home, great for visualization and teaching), but If you ever tried to build one, you probably noticed just how different the instructions on Youtube and the internet might be. I recently worked on a project for school where I tried to improve the cloud chamber as much as possible, and wanted to share what worked for me and didn't. Note: though I tried to justify my results scientifically in the study, it still might be wrong and my suggestions might go against theory, in which case please correct me. Also, some of these tips might be already available online, and I don't claim to have invented them. Anyhow, here's a list of suggestions:

- For starters, check out the two following videos: 1) https://youtu.be/xky3f1aSkB8?si=VGAR5G1y6HTRyX3f and 2) https://youtu.be/eh3bxXHqF2U?si=zh_Ju3Gc150XQVr8 . I found these resources extremely helpful as the initial guide. The CERN one uses a metal sheet with grooves, however these are hard to find or do by yourself. So, follow ElectroBOOM's suggestion to make a silicon groove, it generally helps with the sealing and fixes the chamber container in place.

- Use glass or plastic for the chamber container. Some people suggested using plexiglass, which I ended up using, and do not recommend you do. Since we cool the chamber, the low temperature ended up cracking the container for me, leading to leaks at the bottom. Generally it's easier to get a ready container (from cooking sets or smth) rather than building you own, cause mine was imperfect and had gaps, which I had to glue together for some time.

- For the alcohol absorbent, use felt, not sponge. Felt can collect more alcohol and generally spreads it better than sponge. Also, the felt should cover the entire area of the top layer of the container, as it evenly spreads the alcohol. The felt layer should be quite thick (around 3-4 cm), as it allows to pour a sufficient amount of alcohol.

- Concerning the alcohol itself. It's best to use isopropanol, but for personal use different alcohols (methanol, ethanol, etc) are quite sufficient. I personally used ethanol because isoprop isn't sold in my region. Try to hit >90% purity - generally the higher you go the better the tracks. The cloud chamber has a specific limit of alcohol quantity where it actually operates, i.e if you poor too little or too much, it won't display tracks. If you have the time, try to play around with the volume of the vapor to see where this region lies for you - you will also see a change in the quality of the tracks, as some volumes produce a high number of tracks, others display them for longer. But if you're low on alcohol or just want to see the chamber work, the rule of the thumb is to cover the entire area of the felt and pour out the excess.

Also, the waiting time until the chamber actually starts displaying particles varies based on the amount of alcohol you add. So, for smaller volumes it took me about 10 minutes to start up, and 20 for higher volumes.

- For the metal sheet (which you place on top of your cold layer, where you actually see the tracks), try to find a black one. Aluminum, etc won't display as good and reflects light.

- The temperature gradient between the top and bottom layer plays a big role. It's best to get the bottom layer as cold as you can by using dry ice. Flaked ice worked best for me, as it covered the whole metal sheet area. Pellets work good as well. But if you plan to make more of a "perpetual" cloud chamber, go with Peltier coolers submerged in frozen salted water. This, however, will deteriorate the quality of your tracks, so judge based on your use. You can place hot water on your top layer, which will also improve your quality. I tried making a chain of resistors to heat the felt directly, but failed to do so. Maybe you'll be able to make it, but please be careful and look into it further because I'm not sure if it might actually ignite the alcohol :)

- If you want to produce more tracks rather than relying on cosmic rays, order smoke detectors with Americium-241 (I got them off of Aliexpress. Bought 10, only 3 produced decent results). Some recommend thorinated welding rods, but I went with the detectors. Remember radiation safety. Also, place the detector inside rather than trying to produce tracks from outside the container, plastic blocks off the particles.

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Hope this helps! Have fun, I loved my experience with the chamber.

Edit: If you're concerned about the price of the chamber, the whole thing cost me around 30-40 usd, 20 of which went to the dry ice order. So shouldn't be too much