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Tachyonic Field
In physics, a tachyonic field, or simply tachyon, is a quantum field with an imaginary mass. Although tachyonic particles (particles that move faster than light) are a purely hypothetical concept that violate a number of essential physical principles, at least one field with imaginary mass, the Higgs field, is believed to exist. Under no circumstances do any excitations of tachyonic fields ever propagate faster than light—the presence or absence of a tachyonic (imaginary) mass has no effect on the maximum velocity of signals, and so unlike faster-than-light particles there is no violation of causality. Tachyonic fields play an important role in physics and are discussed in popular books. The term "tachyon" was coined by Gerald Feinberg in a 1967 paper that studied quantum fields with imaginary mass. Feinberg believed such fields permitted faster than light propagation, but it was soon realized that this was not the case. Instead, the imaginary mass creates an instability: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular succession of events." It is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines. "Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences. Scientists of all disciplines use the ideas of physics, including chemists who study the structure of molecules, paleontologists who try to reconstruct how dinosaurs walked, and climatologists who study how human activities affect the atmosphere and oceans. Physics is also the foundation of all engineering and technology. No engineer could design a flat-screen TV, an interplanetary spacecraft, or even a better mousetrap without first understanding the basic laws of physics. (...) You will come to see physics as a towering achievement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scalar Field
In mathematics and physics, a scalar field is a function associating a single number to each point in a region of space – possibly physical space. The scalar may either be a pure mathematical number ( dimensionless) or a scalar physical quantity (with units). In a physical context, scalar fields are required to be independent of the choice of reference frame. That is, any two observers using the same units will agree on the value of the scalar field at the same absolute point in space (or spacetime) regardless of their respective points of origin. Examples used in physics include the temperature distribution throughout space, the pressure distribution in a fluid, and spin-zero quantum fields, such as the Higgs field. These fields are the subject of scalar field theory. Definition Mathematically, a scalar field on a region ''U'' is a real or complex-valued function or distribution on ''U''. The region ''U'' may be a set in some Euclidean space, Minkowski spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Model Of Particle Physics
The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles. It was developed in stages throughout the latter half of the 20th century, through the work of many scientists worldwide, with the current formulation being finalized in the mid-1970s upon experimental confirmation of the existence of quarks. Since then, proof of the top quark (1995), the tau neutrino (2000), and the Higgs boson (2012) have added further credence to the Standard Model. In addition, the Standard Model has predicted various properties of weak neutral currents and the W and Z bosons with great accuracy. Although the Standard Model is believed to be theoretically self-consistent and has demonstrated some success in providing experimental predictions, it leaves some physical phenomena unexplained and so falls short of being a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scalar Field Theory
In theoretical physics, scalar field theory can refer to a relativistically invariant classical or quantum theory of scalar fields. A scalar field is invariant under any Lorentz transformation. The only fundamental scalar quantum field that has been observed in nature is the Higgs field. However, scalar quantum fields feature in the effective field theory descriptions of many physical phenomena. An example is the pion, which is actually a pseudoscalar. Since they do not involve polarization complications, scalar fields are often the easiest to appreciate second quantization through. For this reason, scalar field theories are often used for purposes of introduction of novel concepts and techniques. The signature of the metric employed below is . Classical scalar field theory A general reference for this section is Ramond, Pierre (2001-12-21). Field Theory: A Modern Primer (Second Edition). USA: Westview Press. , Ch 1. Linear (free) theory The most basic scalar field ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bosonic String Theory
Bosonic string theory is the original version of string theory, developed in the late 1960s. It is so called because it contains only bosons in the spectrum. In the 1980s, supersymmetry was discovered in the context of string theory, and a new version of string theory called superstring theory (supersymmetric string theory) became the real focus. Nevertheless, bosonic string theory remains a very useful model to understand many general features of perturbative string theory, and many theoretical difficulties of superstrings can actually already be found in the context of bosonic strings. Problems Although bosonic string theory has many attractive features, it falls short as a viable physical model in two significant areas. First, it predicts only the existence of bosons whereas many physical particles are fermions. Second, it predicts the existence of a mode of the string with imaginary mass, implying that the theory has an instability to a process known as "tachyon conde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inflation (cosmology)
In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the very early universe. Following the inflationary period, the universe continued to expand, but at a slower rate. The re-acceleration of this slowing expansion due to dark energy began after the universe was already over 7.7 billion years old (5.4 billion years ago). Inflation theory was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with notable contributions by several theoretical physicists, including Alexei Starobinsky at Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Alan Guth at Cornell University, and Andrei Linde at Lebedev Physical Institute. Starobinsky, Guth, and Linde won the 2014 Kavli Prize "for pioneering the theory of cosmic inflation". It was developed further in the early 1980s. It explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Quantum fluctuations in the microscopic inflationary region, magnified t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inflaton
The inflaton field is a hypothetical scalar field that is conjectured to have driven cosmic inflation in the very early universe. The field, originally postulated by Alan Guth, provides a mechanism by which a period of rapid expansion from 10−35 to 10−34 seconds after the initial expansion can be generated, forming a universe that is not inconsistent with observed spatial isotropy and homogeneity. Cosmological inflation The basic model of inflation proceeds in three phases: * Expanding vacuum state with high potential energy * Phase transition to true vacuum * Slow roll and reheating Expanding vacuum state with high potential energy A ''"vacuum"'' or ''"vacuum state"'' in quantum field theory is a state of quantum fields that is at locally minimal potential energy. Quantum particles are excitations that deviate from this minimal potential energy state, therefore a vacuum state has no particles in it. Depending on the specifics of a quantum field the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BCS Theory
In physics, the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) theory (named after John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer) is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since Heike Kamerlingh Onnes's 1911 discovery. The theory describes superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a condensation of Cooper pairs. The theory is also used in nuclear physics to describe the pairing interaction between nucleons in an atomic nucleus. It was proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer in 1957; they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for this theory in 1972. History Rapid progress in the understanding of superconductivity gained momentum in the mid-1950s. It began with the 1948 paper, "On the Problem of the Molecular Theory of Superconductivity", where Fritz London proposed that the phenomenological London equations may be consequences of the coherence of a quantum state. In 1953, Brian Pippard, motivated by penetration experiments, proposed that this would mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginzburg–Landau Theory
In physics, Ginzburg–Landau theory, often called Landau–Ginzburg theory, named after Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev Landau, is a mathematical physical theory used to describe superconductivity. In its initial form, it was postulated as a phenomenological model which could describe type-I superconductors without examining their microscopic properties. One GL-type superconductor is the famous YBCO, and generally all cuprates. Later, a version of Ginzburg–Landau theory was derived from the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer microscopic theory by Lev Gor'kov, thus showing that it also appears in some limit of microscopic theory and giving microscopic interpretation of all its parameters. The theory can also be given a general geometric setting, placing it in the context of Riemannian geometry, where in many cases exact solutions can be given. This general setting then extends to quantum field theory and string theory, again owing to its solvability, and its close relation to other, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a spontaneous process of symmetry breaking, by which a physical system in a symmetric state spontaneously ends up in an asymmetric state. In particular, it can describe systems where the equations of motion or the Lagrangian obey symmetries, but the lowest-energy vacuum solutions do not exhibit that same symmetry. When the system goes to one of those vacuum solutions, the symmetry is broken for perturbations around that vacuum even though the entire Lagrangian retains that symmetry. Overview The spontaneous symmetry breaking cannot happen in quantum mechanics that describes finite dimensional systems, due to Stone-von Neumann theorem (that states the uniqueness of Heisenberg commutation relations in finite dimensions). So spontaneous symmetry breaking can be observed only in infinite dimensional theories, as quantum field theories. By definition, spontaneous symmetry breaking requires the existence of physical laws which are invariant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Local Maximum
In mathematical analysis, the maximum and minimum of a function (mathematics), function are, respectively, the greatest and least value taken by the function. Known generically as extremum, they may be defined either within a given Interval (mathematics), range (the ''local'' or ''relative'' extrema) or on the entire domain of a function, domain (the ''global'' or ''absolute'' extrema) of a function. Pierre de Fermat was one of the first mathematicians to propose a general technique, adequality, for finding the maxima and minima of functions. As defined in set theory, the maximum and minimum of a set (mathematics), set are the greatest and least elements in the set, respectively. Unbounded infinite sets, such as the set of real numbers, have no minimum or maximum. In statistics, the corresponding concept is the sample maximum and minimum. Definition A real-valued Function (mathematics), function ''f'' defined on a Domain of a function, domain ''X'' has a global (or absolute) m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Causality
Causality is an influence by which one Event (philosophy), event, process, state, or Object (philosophy), object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cause is at least partly responsible for the effect, and the effect is at least partly dependent on the cause. The cause of something may also be described as the reason for the event or process. In general, a process can have multiple causes,Compare: which are also said to be ''causal factors'' for it, and all lie in its past. An effect can in turn be a cause of, or causal factor for, many other effects, which all lie in its future. Some writers have held that causality is metaphysics , metaphysically prior to notions of time and space. Causality is an abstraction that indicates how the world progresses. As such it is a basic concept; it is more apt to be an explanation of other concepts of progression than something to be explained by other more fun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
