Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 - The universe is not locally real. What does that mean?
8 October, 2022
The 2022 Physics Nobel Prize, awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science" https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2022/press-release/Scientific American article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-universe-is-not-locally-real-and-the-physics-nobel-prize-winners-proved-it/Bell's Theorem and EPR episode of Hyperfine https://thehyperfine.com/#bellEncryption: Diffie-Hellman & RSA episode of Hyperfine https://thehyperfine.com/#encryptionCGP Grey video "The Trouble with Transporters" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQHBAdShgYI
Acoustic Levitation w/ Special Guest Dr. David Jackson
8 July, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss acoustic levitaiton with Dr. David Jackson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dickinson College.Their published paper at AAJP (requires subscription), "Acoustic levitation and the acoustic radiation force":
https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/10.0002764You can contact Dr. Jackson to request a copy:
https://www.dickinson.edu/site/customscripts/dcfacultyprofileindex.php?fac=jacksondMing-Hua Chang's senior thesis, "Using Schlieren Optics to Visualize Ultrasonic Standing Waves In Acoustic Levitation":
https://scholar.dickinson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1391&context=student_honorsDr. Daniel A Russell's Acoustics and Vibration Animations:
https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/demos.htmlSelected gifs of wave motion:
https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/Reflect-Particles/Reflect-Particles.html
https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/phase-p-u-sine/phase-p-u-sine.html
https://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/SWR/SWR.htmlPhysics Girl video building an acoustic levitator on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABjRnSYw-4kAcoustic levitation on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_levitation
Gravitational G and How Science Works
17 June, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss the "controversial" value of Newton's gravitational constant G. They cover the history of its measurement and how the value (and confidence in that value) has changed over time.Gravitational G wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_constantRelative uncertainty of phsyical constants: https://codata.org/blog/2015/08/04/codata-recommended-values-of-the-fundamental-physical-constants-2014/Different G experiments with uncertainty bars: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344933668/figure/fig2/AS:1019607263477760@1620104723443/The-eleven-values-of-G-adopted-in-CODATA-2014-after-2000-and-our-latest-two-values.png
Cosmology and the Arrow of Time
16 May, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss the big question: why is the future different than the past? Why do we remember the past but not the future?Much the discussion comes from Sean Carroll’s book, “From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time“
Is Anything Truly Random? w/Special Guest Grant Ciffone
4 May, 2021
Zak and Derek chat with special guest, Grant Ciffone! Grant joins us as a non-physicist who asks “Is anything truly random in the universe?”Interested in being a guest on the show? Come ask us a question! Email us at hbar@thehyperfine.com
How to Keep Time
20 April, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss a mystery in a hospital, where an MRI machine seems to have taken out only iPhones; Android was unharmed. This leads to a conversation on how watches work, fundamentally.
Entropy & Statistical Mechanics
8 April, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss the statistical origins of entropy and how it connects from there into thermodynamics. They also encourage using flashcards :)
Thermodynamics
23 March, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss the basics of thermodynamics, including the so-called thermodynamic potentials.Topics: energy, temperature, entropy, pressure, volume, enthalpy, Helmholtz free energy, Gibbs free enthalpy.Modern Thermodynamics: http://www.av8n.com/physics/thermo/Legendre transformation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendre_transformation
Benford’s Law
5 March, 2021
Zak and Derek discuss Benford’s Law, including the strange places it pops up, and some fundamental origins of the law.Some of the references discussed:The Mathematics of Benford’s Law – A Primer
Arno Berger and Theodore P. Hill
April 22, 2020A Simple Explanation of Benford’s Law
R. M. FEWSTER
The American Statistician, February 2009, Vol. 63, No. 1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law
Planck, Einstein, and the Origins of Quantum Mechanics
7 December, 2019
Zak and Derek discuss Max Planck’s work in the foundations of what would turn into quantum mechanics, and Albert Einstein’s role in its promulgation. How did Max Planck fix the blackbody radiation problem with the ultraviolet catastrophe, or is that actually what happened?References discussed:Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity by Thomas Kuhn (Amazon book)Einstein and the Quantum: The Quest of the Valiant Swabian by Douglas Stone (Amazon book)Revisiting the Quantum Discontinuity (PDF)
The Physics of Hurricanes
3 September, 2019
Zak and Derek discuss the physics of hurricanes, including the energy involved, and rotating reference frames, including Coriolis effects. Why do they rotate in different directions in the northern and southern hemispheres?
Hadrons – Quark Systems
26 July, 2019
Zak and Derek discuss the composite systems of quarks in baryons and mesons, as well as the eightfold way and multiplet organization of quark particles. This is a follow up to the Standard Model episode.Further reading:“Introduction to Elementary Particles” by David GriffithsEightfold way (physics) on WikipediaMurry Gell-Mann on WikipediaList of baryons on Wikipedia
The Standard Model Part 1
12 May, 2019
The first of a multi-part series on the Standard Model of particle physics. This is an overview of the particles that make up the standard model.Derek’s main reference book: The New Cosmic OnionZak’s main reference book: The Theory of Almost EverythingThe Standard Model on Wikipedia
Domino Amplifier
12 April, 2019
Zak and Derek discuss toppling larger and larger dominos in a chain reaction. How does the potential energy work? What are the limits of the setup?World Record Largest Toppling Dominos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODHofgWv2QM&feature=youtu.be&t=86The gravity-powered LED light: https://deciwatt.global/
Bohmian Mechanics – Pilot Wave Theory
6 April, 2019
Zak and Derek follow up their Bell’s Theorm and EPR discussion with a survey of Bohmian mechanics, often called pilot wave theory, one of many interpretations of quantum mechanics.Looking Glass Universe “Bohmian Mechanics- An Alternative to Quantum” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRVnC92sMsLooking Glass Universe “A problem with Bohmian Mechanics? Contextuality” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz4CHI_W-TAVeritasium “Is This What Quantum Mechanics Looks Like?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIyTZDHuarQde Broglie–Bohm theory on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeBroglie%E2%80%93BohmtheoryCopenhagen interpretation on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_interpretationHolland, The Quantum Theory of Motion: https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Theory-Motion-Broglie-Bohm-Interpretation/dp/0521485436Rosenblum & Kuttner, Quantum Enigma: https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Enigma-Physics-Encounters-Consciousness-ebook/dp/B005H5O1DU/
Relative Motion (Not Relativity)
30 March, 2019
Zak and Derek discuss a drone flying in an accelerating car. Does it stay in place? Fly to the back, front, ceiling, or floor? (And does the plane take off?)The original Reddit post. (The actual question has been removed, but the replies feed the discussion.) https://old.reddit.com/r/Physics/comments/8makbf/idontknowifthisistherightplacetoask_but/Drone in a car YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjTj-tGPSWESmarter Every Day balloon (and bubble) in a car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8mzDvpKzfY
Bell’s Theorem and EPR
21 March, 2019
Zak and Derek discuss nothing less than the fundamental nature of reality. They start with the arguments made in the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paper from 1935, which were then tackled by John Bell in 1964 with Bell’s Theorem and Bell inequalities.References:The original Bell paper (1964): https://cds.cern.ch/record/111654/files/vol1p195-200_001.pdfThe original EPR paper (1935): http://www.drchinese.com/David/EPR.pdfBohr’s response to EPR (1935): http://cds.cern.ch/record/1060284/files/PhysRev.48.696.pdfBohm’s physics textbook. Specifically, page 29, and Chapter 5 section 3, and Chapter 22 Section 19. (1951): https://books.google.com/books?id=hEHCAgAAQBAJDavid Mermin’s paper (1985): http://cp3.irmp.ucl.ac.be/~maltoni/PHY1222/mermin_moon.pdfDavid Mermin talk at Berkeley (2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta09WXiUqcQTim Maudlin’s talk “What Bell Did” (2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg5z_zeZP60Bell’s Theorem in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (good historical overview): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bell-theorem/GHZ (3-particle) experiments: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GHZ_experimentBell’s Theorem in popular Youtube channels:
Veritasium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuvK-od647c
Through the Looking Glass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-s3q9wlLag
MinutePhysics & 3Blue1Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcqZHYo7ONs
3Blue1Brown & MinutePhysics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzRCDLre1b4
Physics Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6WxIblKVZI(Note: At about 46:40, Derek says “This now gets at the Schrodinger’s Cat problem, which was a reply to the EPR and Bohm papers,” but should have said “EPR and Bohr papers”.)
Climbing Magnets
29 November, 2018
Zak and Derek try to tackle the “climbing magnets” puzzle from Veritasium’s Youtube channel. Both taking different approaches until watching the result together.
Balloons Inside Balloons and Sweet Spots
22 November, 2018
Zak and Derek first discuss what happens to a balloon which holds another balloon that pops while inside the first. Then they try to tackle the physics of sweet spots on bats.The balloon gif: https://i.imgur.com/96ld4oz.gifvSweet spot discussion starts 18:50
Fortnite and the Principle of Least Action
15 November, 2018
Zak and Derek discuss the physics of dropping in Fortnite and PUBG.Derek’s Epic name: theHyperfineHow do you reach the ground the fastest? When should you jump? What do you do after you jump?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principleofleast_actionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachistochrone_curve
Encryption: Diffie-Hellman & RSA
8 November, 2018
Derek and Zak confirm they are talking to each other using the Diffie-Hellman protocol. Zak then encrypts a secret message using RSA encryption, which Derek then decrypts.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffie%E2%80%93Hellmankeyexchangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_(cryptosystem)The Art of the Problem has a fantastic pair of videos on YouTube explaining how these encryption methods both work.Diffie-Hellman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBfamv-_doRSA Encryption: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXB-V_Keiu8
Geosynchronous Orbits
1 November, 2018
Derek and Zak discuss why there is a specific geosynchronous orbit distance at all. Why can’t it be any distance? And why is the escape speed what it is? Why can’t you move 1mph and leave Earth?
How Much Weight Do You Lift When Doing a Pushup?
28 September, 2018
Pushup discussion starts at 11:12.
Floating Hourglass
21 September, 2018
How does moving sand affect the buoyancy of the hourglass? Or does it?Derek takes a stab at a conceptual answer, but Zak works out some contradicting math.The animation in question:
https://gifer.com/en/Ajtn
Does Data Have Mass?
14 September, 2018
Is your cell phone heavier when it has more data stored in memory? What about an SD card? Magnetic storage drive? Is there a difference?Zak and Derek dive in to the physics of flash storage, and what that means for mass even on the smallest of small scales. Electron mass? Einstein mass-energy equivalence? Is there any change at all?Original reddit post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/74rboo/ifmy60gbphoneisfulloremptyisthere_any/Maxwell’s demon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demonOur Mathematical Universe, by Max Tegmark:
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Mathematical-Universe-Ultimate-Reality/dp/0307599809
Landing on Planets
6 September, 2018
Derek and Zak question how a bug zapper works, complete with testing on yourself…as only good scientists do!They then explore a SF writer’s query on reddit, asking about the safety of people landing on planets by dropping to the surface while enclosed in spheres filled with water.
Intro to The Hyperfine Physics Podcast
30 August, 2018
Derek and Zak introduce themselves and the podcast.Join our listener community on Reddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/TheHyperfine/Derek on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/LikeTortillaZak on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/EspleyZakhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfine_structureThree Blue, One Brown podcast: “Ben Ben Blue” https://www.benbenandblue.com/
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