Re: A theoretical physics FAQ

melroysoares_at_hotmail.com
Date: 01/22/05 

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:32:56 +0000 (UTC)

Thanks for a good FAQ.
maybe you can add one more question :
"Do magnetic monopoles exist and can they be detected?"
Melroy
Arnold Neumaier wrote:
> A theoretical physics FAQ
>
> http://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/physics-faq.txt
>
>
> This site contains answers to some more or less frequently asked
> questions from theoretical physics. They were edited from my answers
> to postings to the moderated newsgroup sci.physics.research.
>
> The 21 topics in the initial version, posted there on April 28, 2004,
> have grown to 62 topics by October 18, 2004, to 88 by January 1,
2005,
> and are likely to grow further. The answers to the various topics can
> usually be read independently of each other.
>
> Of course, the FAQ refers only to a tiny part of theoretical physics,
> and the answers are only as good as my understanding of the matter.
> This doesn't mean that they are poor but probably that they are
> not perfect, and sometimes controversial.
>
> Happy Reading!
>
> Arnold Neumaier
> University of Vienna
>
http://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/
> I like to see people grow
>
> Table of Contents
>
> S1a. What are bras and kets?
> S1b. Projective geometry and quantum mechanics
> S1c. What is the meaning of the entries of a density matrix?
> S1d. How much information is in a particle?
> S1e. Can all quantum states be realized in nature?
> S1f. Are electrons pointlike/structureless?
>
> S2a. Lie groups and Lie algebras
> S2b. The Galilei group as contraction of the Poincare group
> S2c. Representations of the Poincare group, spin and gauge
invariance
> S2d. Forms of relativistic dynamics
> S2e. Is there a multiparticle relativistic quantum mechanics?
> S2f. Localization and position operators
>
> S3a. What are 'bare' and 'dressed' particles?
> S3b. How meaningful are single Feynman diagrams?
> S3c. How real are 'virtual particles'?
> S3d. What is the meaning of 'on-shell' and 'off-shell'?
> S3e. Virtual particles and Coulomb interaction
> S3f. Are virtual particles and decaying particles the same?
>
> S4a. Can particles go backward in time?
> S4b. What about particles faster than light
> S4c. How real is the wave function?
> S4d. How real are Feynman's paths?
>
> S5a. QM pictures and representations
> S5b. Inequivalent representations of CCR/CAR
> S5c. Why does QFT look so different from QM?
> S5d. Why is QFT based on a classical action?
> S5e. Why does the action only contain first derivatives?
> S5f. Why normal ordering?
>
> S6a. Nonperturbative computations in QFT
> S6b. The formal functional integral approach to QFT
> S6c. Functional integrals, Wightman functions, and rigorous QFT
> S6d. Is there a rigorous interacting QFT in 4 dimensions?
> S6e. The classical limit of relativistic QFT
>
> S7a. Bound states in relativistic QFT
> S7b. Why can a bound state of massless quarks be heavy?
> S7c. What is the mass gap?
>
> S8a. Why renormalization?
> S8b. Renormalization without infinities I
> S8c. Renormalization without infinities II
> S8d. Renormalization and coarse graining
> S8e. What about infrared divergences?
>
> S9a. Summing divergent series
> S9b. Is QED consistent?
> S9c. What about relativistic QFT at finite times?
>
> S10a. Is quantum mechanics compatible with general relativity?
> S10b. Difficulties in quantizing gravity
> S10c. Renormalization in quantum gravity
> S10d. Why do gravitons have spin 2?
> S10e. What is the tetrad formalism?
> S10f. Energy in general relativity
>
> S11a. A concise formulation of the measurement problem of QM
> S11b. The double slit experiment
> S11c. The Stern-Gerlach experiment
> S11d. The minimal interpretation
> S11e. The preferred basis problem
> S11f. Master equation and pointer variables
> S11g. Does decoherence solve the measurement problem?
>
> S12a. Stochastic quantum mechanics
> S12b. Which interpretation of quantum mechanics is most consistent?
> S12c. Is there a relativistic measurement theory?
>
> S13a. Random numbers and other random objects
> S13b. What is the meaning of probabilities?
> S13c. What about the subjective interpretation of probabilities?
> S13d. Are probabilities limits of relative frequencies?
> S13e. How meaningful are probabilities of single events?
> S13f. How probable are realizations of stochastic processes?
> S13g. How do probabilities apply in practice?
> S13h. Incomplete knowledge and statistics
> S13i. Priors and entropy in probability theory
>
> S14a. Theoretical challenges close to experimental data
> S14b. Does the standard model predict chemistry?
> S14c. Is the result of a measurement a real number?
> S14d. Why use complex numbers in physics?
>
> S15a. How precise can physical language be?
> S15b. Why bother about rigor in physics?
> S15c. Justifying the foundations of a theory
> S15d. Foundations, theory and experiment
>
> S16a. On progress in science
> S16b. How different are physical sciences and social sciences
> S16c. Can good theories be falsified?
> S16d. What, then, distinguishes a good theory?
> S16e. When is a theory preferred to another one?
>
> S17a. How to get information from sci.physics.research
> S17b. How to sell your revolutionary idea
> S17c. Useful background for theoretical physics
> S17d. Stories about physicists
> S17e. Other physics FAQs
>
> S18a. Acknowledgments

Relevant Pages

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