stellar physics
Most of the stars are at this stage, including the Sun.
What is a main sequence star?
This effect is due to the Lorentz force experienced by charge carriers. It was discovered at JHU.
What is Hall effect?
These particles proposed by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig have 6 flavors and experience all four fundamental interactions.
What are quarks?
This is an unknown form of energy responsible for the expansion of the universe.
What is dark energy?
Special relativity tells us that in flat spacetime our theories should be invariant under this transformation.
What is the Lorentz transformation?
This is the future of stars of intermediate mass, including the Sun.
What is a red giant?
This method is widely used to determine crystal structures.
What is X-ray diffraction/spectroscopy?
This type of interaction is responsible for nuclear binding (of protons and neutrons). +50 if you also know the mediator of this interaction
What is the strong interaction (mediated by gluons)?
This is a remnant from the early universe (the recombination) that fills the spacetime. It has a temperature of about 2.7 K and was first predicted at JHU APL.
What is the cosmic microwave background?
These are all the possible final outcomes of stellar evolution.
What are white (black) dwarves, neutron stars, and black holes?
This is the fundamental mechanism of superconductivity and superfluidity.
What are Cooper pairs?
This type of interaction is responsible for particle decay. +50 if you also know the mediator of this interaction
What is the weak interaction (mediated by W and Z bosons)?
These are the equations that govern the expansion of an isotropic and homogeneous universe.
What are the Friedmann equations?
This is a surface beyond which the only future is a singularity in GR.
What is the event horizon?
These are failed stars not massive enough to start nuclear fusion.
What are brown dwarves?
These quasi-particles are the quantized normal modes of atomic oscillations. They play a key role in the BCS theory of superconductivity.
What are phonons?
This particle is responsible for generating the mass of quarks.
What is a Higgs boson?
(daily double!) This type of matter first collapsed under gravity during structure formation and formed the skeleton of the structure of the universe.
What is dark matter?
This is the radiation of accelerated mass (leading order is related to the quadrupole moment) in the spacetime.
What are gravitational waves?
These are variable stars (100 each correct, 500 at most, stealing: 100 each correct, -100 each wrong).
What is a cepheid/RR Lyrae variable/Delta Scuti variable/beta cephei variable/gamma doradus variable/luminous blue variable/flare star/supernova/nova/cataclysmic variable/slowly pulsating star/mira variable...?
This type of material's interior is an insulator but has a conducting surface protected by symmetry.
What is a topological insulator?
This interaction is the unified version of two of the four fundamental interaction.
What is the electroweak interaction?
This is believed to be the origin of the structures in the universe.
What is quantum fluctuation + inflation? (either is OK)
These are solutions of the fundamental GR equations (100 each correct, stealing: 100 each correct/-100 each wrong)
What is the Minkowski metric/Schwarzschild metric/Kerr(-Newman) metric/FLRW metric/Lemaître–Tolman metric /(anti-)De-Sitter metric/wormhole?