Nothing goes faster than the speed of light in empty space, also known as the cosmic speed limit c. Right? Well, umm… the devil is in the details.
Here are some of those details:
(more…)I have posted my fourth article discussing zero-point energy. (Here are the first, the second, and the third, which covered respectively the zero-point energy of a ball on a spring, a guitar string, and a bosonic field whose particles have zero mass, such as the electromagnetic field.) Today’s article looks at fields whose particles have non-zero mass, such as the Higgs field, and fermionic fields, such as the electron field and quark fields. It presents some simple formulas, and in its final section, shows how one can obtain them using math.
Along the way we’ll encounter the idea of “supersymmetry” and its failed role in the cosmological constant problem. This is a word which (for some good historical reasons) generates a lot of heat. But stay calm; I’m neither promoting it nor bashing it. Supersymmetry is an idea which proves useful as a conceptual tool, whether it is true in nature or not.
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POSTED BY Matt Strassler
ON February 19, 2024
My two new webpages from earlier this week addressed the zero-point energy for the simple case of a ball on a spring and for the much richer case of a guitar string; the latter served as a warmup to today’s webpage, the third in this series, which explains the zero-point energy of a field of the universe. This subject will lead us head-first into the cosmological constant problem. As before, the article starts with a non-mathematical overview, and then obtains the results stated in the overview using pre-university math (except for one aside.) [As always, please comment if you spot typos or find some of the presentation especially confusing!]
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POSTED BY Matt Strassler
ON February 16, 2024
In my last post, I introduced a new webpage concerning “zero-point energy”, the core concept that lies at the heart of the hierarchy puzzle. I have now posted the next webpage in the series, which extends the notion of zero-point energy to a slightly more complex system, an ordinary metal string of finite length. It’s a bit schematic, but it serves to teach us some crucial and surprising lessons about the zero-point energy associated with the internal vibrations of physical objects. [Please let me know in the comments if you spot any typos or if you find some of the presentation especially confusing!]
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POSTED BY Matt Strassler
ON February 14, 2024
A central issue in discussions of particle physics’ present and future is known as the hierarchy puzzle. Although I discuss the hierarchy — its confusing nature and the debates that it generates — in my upcoming book, I do so rather briefly, and so, I’ll be putting up some new pages on this website with supplemental information. The same information is relevant for the cosmological constant problem. (Older pages already giving various perspectives on these issues can be found here, here and here.)
I have just posted the first new page, on “zero-point motion” and “zero-point energy.” It begins with a verbal, non-technical description of zero-point motion and zero-point energy. There follows a sketch of the details using pre-university math. Future pages will apply these ideas to quantum fields, addressing notions of “vacuum energy density” and the “cosmological constant”, and then turning to “Higgs feedback” and the core of the hierarchy puzzle.
A quick description of the hierarchy in question: it is a hierarchy of energy scales, or of mass scales. One way it can be described is in terms of particle masses:
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POSTED BY Matt Strassler
ON February 13, 2024
Last night, using the methods I described as part of my check-it-yourself astronomy series, I estimated the distance to the planet Jupiter using nothing more than my eyes, a protractor, and a simple calculator. It took about 30 seconds of measuring something before and after sunset, and about 15 more seconds using my cell phone’s calculator. You can do it too, if you have clear skies over the weekend.
There are only two parts of the process:
- know which week to ask the question, and
- during that week, measure the angle A in the sky between the Sun and Jupiter.
POSTED BY Matt Strassler
ON February 9, 2024
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