Classical Mechanics
The law states that "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"
What is Newton's 3rd Law?
The total electric field that crosses a given surface. Given by the formula E • A
What is Electric Flux?
Provides a fundamental limit to how precisely certain pairs of physical properties of a quantum particle can be known simultaneously, such as its position and momentum, or time and energy
What is Heisenberg Uncertainty principle?
This major turning point in late 1974 began the modern era of particle physics with the simultaneous discovery of the charm quark.
What is the November revolution?
The Clipper mission launched on Oct. 14, 2025 to determine the habitability of this moon's underground ocean.
What is Europa?
What is centrifugal force?
This device uses electric and magnetic fields to separate ions by their mass-to-charge ratio, allowing for the identification and quantification of substances by measuring the deflections of ionized particles.
What is a mass spectrometer?
The constructive interference of waves that results from reflection off periodically arranged atomic planes within a crystal lattice. Modeled by the formula nλ = 2d*sinθ
What is Bragg Scattering?
This force's coupling constant increases with distance and confines quarks within protons and neutrons.
What is the strong nuclear force?
This leftover radiation from the early, hot, and dense universe has been traveling through space for nearly 14 billion years, and cooled to about 2.7 K.
What is the Cosmic Microwave Background?
This phenomenon is where a spinning body subjected to a torque does not tilt in the direction of the applied force, but instead tilts at a 90-degree angle to the force and in a direction perpendicular to the spinning object's axis of rotation. This phenomenon stabilizes spinning tops and spacecraft.
What is Gyroscopic precession?
Paul Dirac showed that if this exists, electric charge must be quantized. Gauss's Law for magnetism prohibits these (∇•B = 0)
What is a magnetic Monopole?
A quantum-mechanical system whose potential energy follows the inverse squared law with displacement. It is a fundamental model used to understand the vibrations of molecules and atoms and predicts quantized energy levels
What is a Quantum Harmonic Oscillator?
This mathematical technique is used in quantum field theory to deal with the infinite quantities that arise in calculations.
What is renormalization?
Scientists imaged a black hole for the first time in 2019 of M87, and released a second image in 2022 of this closer black hole.
What is Sagittarius A*?
This function represents the difference between a system's kinetic energy and its potential energy. It is used to describe how physical systems evolve over time by finding the path of "least action"
What is the Lagrangian?
The electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle, like an electron, is rapidly decelerated or deflected by another charged particle. Also known as breaking radiation
What is Bremsstrahlung?
The first and widely used explanation of quantum mechanics, formulated by physicists like Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in the late 1920s. It describes how quantum systems exist in multiple states until measured, which leads to a "collapse" into a single state. It also introduces concepts like wave/particle duality and uncertainty.
What is the Copenhagen interpretation?
This quantum number used in particle and nuclear physics to classify hadrons. It is an approximate symmetry of the strong interaction
What is Isospin?
In 2023, a team of researchers used this neutrino observatory in Antarctica to produce an image of the Milky Way.
What is IceCube?
This function represents the total energy of a system and is expressed in terms of positions and momenta in phase space.
What is the Hamiltonian?
The directional energy flux, or power flow of an electromagnetic field. Typically has units of W/m². Given by the formula S = E x H
What is the Poynting vector?
A small, but measurable, attractive force that arises between two uncharged, parallel plates in a vacuum, caused by quantum vacuum fluctuations.
What is the Casimir effect?
The oscillation of these neutral particles between their matter and antimatter states, and the observation of a small imbalance in that oscillation, led to the 1964 discovery of CP violation. These particles have a Long and Short variety.
What are neutral Kaons?
In 2024, Researchers at the Attoscience and Ultrafast Optics group at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) discovered this new type of matter.
What is Light-matter hybrid?