Orbis non sufficit
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Damn quantum mechanics
A diagram such as this one:
Is not so bad to interpret. A particle flis along, emits a photon and so changes course, then gets hit by another photon so changes course again.
But by a simple reordering of events, which is perfectly allowable in quantum mechanics, and in fact extremely necessary we get:
Now it looks like a particle flies along, emits a photon and starts going back in time for a while (or bounces off a photon from the future?) gets hit by another photon and starts going forward in time again. Weird.
Fortunately there is this whole interpretation of the going backwards in time part as being an antiparticle going forward in time, so that first a photon decays into a particle-antiparticle pair, then the antiparticle annihilates with the initial particle releasing a photon while the other particle goes free. This is sort of nice, but on the other hand it almost seems like the going back in time thing is a more cohesive idea, since we must take into account all possible such processes when trying to figure out the result of such interactions.
A diagram such as this one:
Is not so bad to interpret. A particle flis along, emits a photon and so changes course, then gets hit by another photon so changes course again.
But by a simple reordering of events, which is perfectly allowable in quantum mechanics, and in fact extremely necessary we get:
Now it looks like a particle flies along, emits a photon and starts going back in time for a while (or bounces off a photon from the future?) gets hit by another photon and starts going forward in time again. Weird.
Fortunately there is this whole interpretation of the going backwards in time part as being an antiparticle going forward in time, so that first a photon decays into a particle-antiparticle pair, then the antiparticle annihilates with the initial particle releasing a photon while the other particle goes free. This is sort of nice, but on the other hand it almost seems like the going back in time thing is a more cohesive idea, since we must take into account all possible such processes when trying to figure out the result of such interactions.
Friday, March 13, 2009
New mobile number
Ok ppl, my new number is
0425 259 949
I'll probably send ppl a message once I get all my numbers transferred to the new phone, but in case I don't, write it down.
Ok ppl, my new number is
0425 259 949
I'll probably send ppl a message once I get all my numbers transferred to the new phone, but in case I don't, write it down.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Hmm
We're playing Elgar's "Enigma Variations" in orchestra at the moment and it occurred to me that the main theme is the intro to "Clubbed to Death - (kurayamino mix)" by Rob Dougan. I'm pretty sure the piano parts in the middle are also based on the variations. Never realised that before. Both very cool pieces of music.
We're playing Elgar's "Enigma Variations" in orchestra at the moment and it occurred to me that the main theme is the intro to "Clubbed to Death - (kurayamino mix)" by Rob Dougan. I'm pretty sure the piano parts in the middle are also based on the variations. Never realised that before. Both very cool pieces of music.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wow, this is a big wave
Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania
It seems we have some pretty hectic surf in this country. I might stay away from these places for a while...
Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania
It seems we have some pretty hectic surf in this country. I might stay away from these places for a while...
Monday, February 09, 2009
A.N.U.S.
"If you don't have your head up your ass, you'll understand the wisdom of "praise God and pass the ammunition." Whatever your religious beliefs, you'll recognize that we define our own fate... and if we screw it up, and destroy ourselves and our world, no universal force is going to stop us or shed a tear. We will not exist and that fact will not be noticed."
http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/prozak/ass/
These guys write cool articles. I will definitely have to read more of them. They make a few potentially unwarranted assumptions about physics but I can't really blame them too much for it. They don't really change any of their arguments anyway, just perhaps how one might feel about them.
Actually the best one I've read so far was the one on fear: http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/prozak/fear/
Go Nihilist philosophy!
B.t.w, you should donate blood if you're allowed. You'll probably save some poor buggers life. I myself am not allowed due to stupid mad cow disease, which I almost certainly do not carry since I only ate baby food when I was in the UK. Apparantly they still can't screen blood for it though, so they won't risk it. I'll go along with anyone who wants to donate tho.
"If you don't have your head up your ass, you'll understand the wisdom of "praise God and pass the ammunition." Whatever your religious beliefs, you'll recognize that we define our own fate... and if we screw it up, and destroy ourselves and our world, no universal force is going to stop us or shed a tear. We will not exist and that fact will not be noticed."
http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/prozak/ass/
These guys write cool articles. I will definitely have to read more of them. They make a few potentially unwarranted assumptions about physics but I can't really blame them too much for it. They don't really change any of their arguments anyway, just perhaps how one might feel about them.
Actually the best one I've read so far was the one on fear: http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/prozak/fear/
Go Nihilist philosophy!
B.t.w, you should donate blood if you're allowed. You'll probably save some poor buggers life. I myself am not allowed due to stupid mad cow disease, which I almost certainly do not carry since I only ate baby food when I was in the UK. Apparantly they still can't screen blood for it though, so they won't risk it. I'll go along with anyone who wants to donate tho.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Quantum Mechanics
I just made a gnarly picture, thought I'd throw it up here. It's a 3D graph of the intensity cross-section of an electron beam, a short time after passing through a magnetic dipole.
I just made a gnarly picture, thought I'd throw it up here. It's a 3D graph of the intensity cross-section of an electron beam, a short time after passing through a magnetic dipole.
Civilian again
I haven't written in this thing for a while, and tonight seemed a prudent night to update. It was my last night in the Army; I had my resignation document signed by the OC so I am officially out, or will be pretty soon. I still have to take my gear back though because the Q-store didn't have their shit together.
I am more sad about it than I thought I would be, considering I have been effectively out for nearly a year. I certainly haven't done any field training in that time. Still, I had planned to come back then, whereas now I won't be.
I am most saddened by the fact that there was still a lot for me to learn there, I have just had to put it aside to learn things that will be more important for me in the future. Maybe I will go back one day. It's funny, if I didn't believe that physics was the more important thing for me to do then I could have been pretty happy in the Army, maybe gone full time. It's just that I still have a chance to be good enough at physics to make a difference, whereas in the Army I would just be another cog in the grand machine. That being said I am extremely proud to have been a member of the Australian Army, and I have certainly learned the power of teamwork and what the larger machine can do.
I am probably remembering the Army more fondly than I would have a year ago. There were a lot of pretty painful things I had to do. I might list things so I can compare....
Things I will miss:
-Night patrol/navigation (awesome atmosphere, and I was quite good at nav so it was fun)
-Sleeping in the bush under the stars
-Early morning mists
-Experiencing bush weather
-Weapon cleaning (kinda sucks, but is also kinda warry)
-Range shoots
-Learning about tactics, particularly at platoon and higher level. Wish I'd done more of that.
-General patrolling. Patrolling is fun. Less fun with a bitch-heavy pack though.
-Observing a Claymore detonation will stick in my mind forever
-The espirit de corp of MonUR. It is good to be part of a good team.
-Being part of the larger Army community.
Things I will not miss:
-Picket duty, especially in winter. This one counts as two, because getting woken up sucks total balls, and then sitting on your arse in the gun pit for an hour or more sucks more balls. I think I nearly lost limbs on some of the colder nights.
-Ridiculous amounts of paperwork. The Army has forms for everything.
-Copping random crap from staff. Admittedly this got less as I became less incompetent.
-Ironing, equipment maintenance, all that kind of thing. Of course it is vital (perhaps not the ironing) but it's still a pain in the ass.
-Missing stuff in civvy life due to Army training commitments.
It is hard to describe what I am leaving behind by resigning. Because it exists to serve the commonwealth in a unique way, and therefore the people, the Army offers a sense of purpose which is very hard to replace, and it is of course one of the important reasons why people join up and stay in. They feel like the things they do in their lives in the Army matter.
It is this search for purpose which makes me resign however. In our lives we spend a lot of time doing all kinds of random work, activities etc. but it is not until we decide to commit to something that we can ever really achieve anything. It is a bit sad really, because it means that in order for our work, or hobby or whatever, to matter, we have to become very good at it, which requires the sacrifice of many other things we might like to do or learn. It is something of a paradox for me, because I have this theory about how we live to learn, so it sucks to have to sacrifice 'breadth' for 'depth', to put it crudely. Especially because, due to the breadth I have gained from doing a lot of different things, I believe that there are many fundamental similarities between a number of fields which one may not be prone to notice at first.
Anyway I have said enough. Oh, I should probably mention PhD related stuff, but I'll do that next time.
For now, I will see if I remember the role of the infantry correctly. It is my duff of the hat to them, if you will:
"To seek out and close with the enemy; to kill or capture him; to sieze and hold ground and to repel attack, by day or night, regardless of season, weather or terrain."
My apologies to infantry purists if something in there is not correct by the PAM.
I haven't written in this thing for a while, and tonight seemed a prudent night to update. It was my last night in the Army; I had my resignation document signed by the OC so I am officially out, or will be pretty soon. I still have to take my gear back though because the Q-store didn't have their shit together.
I am more sad about it than I thought I would be, considering I have been effectively out for nearly a year. I certainly haven't done any field training in that time. Still, I had planned to come back then, whereas now I won't be.
I am most saddened by the fact that there was still a lot for me to learn there, I have just had to put it aside to learn things that will be more important for me in the future. Maybe I will go back one day. It's funny, if I didn't believe that physics was the more important thing for me to do then I could have been pretty happy in the Army, maybe gone full time. It's just that I still have a chance to be good enough at physics to make a difference, whereas in the Army I would just be another cog in the grand machine. That being said I am extremely proud to have been a member of the Australian Army, and I have certainly learned the power of teamwork and what the larger machine can do.
I am probably remembering the Army more fondly than I would have a year ago. There were a lot of pretty painful things I had to do. I might list things so I can compare....
Things I will miss:
-Night patrol/navigation (awesome atmosphere, and I was quite good at nav so it was fun)
-Sleeping in the bush under the stars
-Early morning mists
-Experiencing bush weather
-Weapon cleaning (kinda sucks, but is also kinda warry)
-Range shoots
-Learning about tactics, particularly at platoon and higher level. Wish I'd done more of that.
-General patrolling. Patrolling is fun. Less fun with a bitch-heavy pack though.
-Observing a Claymore detonation will stick in my mind forever
-The espirit de corp of MonUR. It is good to be part of a good team.
-Being part of the larger Army community.
Things I will not miss:
-Picket duty, especially in winter. This one counts as two, because getting woken up sucks total balls, and then sitting on your arse in the gun pit for an hour or more sucks more balls. I think I nearly lost limbs on some of the colder nights.
-Ridiculous amounts of paperwork. The Army has forms for everything.
-Copping random crap from staff. Admittedly this got less as I became less incompetent.
-Ironing, equipment maintenance, all that kind of thing. Of course it is vital (perhaps not the ironing) but it's still a pain in the ass.
-Missing stuff in civvy life due to Army training commitments.
It is hard to describe what I am leaving behind by resigning. Because it exists to serve the commonwealth in a unique way, and therefore the people, the Army offers a sense of purpose which is very hard to replace, and it is of course one of the important reasons why people join up and stay in. They feel like the things they do in their lives in the Army matter.
It is this search for purpose which makes me resign however. In our lives we spend a lot of time doing all kinds of random work, activities etc. but it is not until we decide to commit to something that we can ever really achieve anything. It is a bit sad really, because it means that in order for our work, or hobby or whatever, to matter, we have to become very good at it, which requires the sacrifice of many other things we might like to do or learn. It is something of a paradox for me, because I have this theory about how we live to learn, so it sucks to have to sacrifice 'breadth' for 'depth', to put it crudely. Especially because, due to the breadth I have gained from doing a lot of different things, I believe that there are many fundamental similarities between a number of fields which one may not be prone to notice at first.
Anyway I have said enough. Oh, I should probably mention PhD related stuff, but I'll do that next time.
For now, I will see if I remember the role of the infantry correctly. It is my duff of the hat to them, if you will:
"To seek out and close with the enemy; to kill or capture him; to sieze and hold ground and to repel attack, by day or night, regardless of season, weather or terrain."
My apologies to infantry purists if something in there is not correct by the PAM.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Space Elevator
Go Japan! They always build the coolest things. I hope this works out because it would be awesome.
Sweet.
Don't read the comments if you know anything about physics or engineering, they will make you cry. And if you do not know anything about such things, also don't read them because they will corrupt your mind with incorrect information.
Example:
"The space elevator will not be cheaper than conventional means of accessing space because you will need massive amounts of fuel to keep the tension on the cables. Also we must remember the earth rotates on its axis, and this will cause the cables to act like a giant whip."
Alen Braxx, Jersey City, America
Why do people insist on pushing their opinions on others when they clearly know nothing about the subject under consideration?
Go Japan! They always build the coolest things. I hope this works out because it would be awesome.
Sweet.
Don't read the comments if you know anything about physics or engineering, they will make you cry. And if you do not know anything about such things, also don't read them because they will corrupt your mind with incorrect information.
Example:
"The space elevator will not be cheaper than conventional means of accessing space because you will need massive amounts of fuel to keep the tension on the cables. Also we must remember the earth rotates on its axis, and this will cause the cables to act like a giant whip."
Alen Braxx, Jersey City, America
Why do people insist on pushing their opinions on others when they clearly know nothing about the subject under consideration?
