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The Block Universe idea, representing spacetime as a fixed whole, suggests the flow of time is an illusion: the entire universe just is, with no special meaning attached to the present time. This view is however based on time-reversible…
Measurements play a crucial role in doing physics: Their results provide the basis on which we adopt or reject physical theories. In this note, we examine the effect of subjecting measurements themselves to our experience. We require that…
A priority of physics instruction is to help students make the connection between the formulae they think they are required to memorize and the real world in which they interact every day. If you ask students to describe a situation in real…
A phenomenological explanation is presented for the physics of aberration, which is in contrast with special relativity physics. The effect of relativity is identified with an effect due to the velocity of observation being affected by the…
We analyze the problem of one dimensional quantum particle falling in a constant gravitational field, also known as the {\it bouncing ball}, employing a semiclassical approach known as momentous effective quantum mechanics. In this…
Mathematics is an essential element of physics problem solving, but experts often fail to appreciate exactly how they use it. Math may be the language of science, but math-in-physics is a distinct dialect of that language. Physicists tend…
The description of gravity in the form of an embedding theory is based on the hypothesis that our space-time is a four-dimensional surface in a flat ten-dimensional space. The choice of standard Einstein-Hilbert action leads in this case to…
We live at a time of contradictory messages about how successfully we understand gravity. General Relativity seems to work very well in the Earth's immediate neighborhood, but arguments abound that it needs modification at very small and/or…
[Taken from the "README" in the book] My goal with this book is to provide some kind of bridge for mathematics between the high-school-level and college-level for physics students. From my perspective, our job as physicists is to observe…
Statistical physics courses typically employ abstract language that describes objects too small to be seen, making the topic challenging for students to understand. In this work, we introduce a simple experiment that allows conceptualizing…
Some of the principal heliophysical inferences that have been drawn from, or refined by, seismology, and the manner in which those inferences have been made, are very briefly described. Prominence is given to the use of simple formulae,…
We study the long time motion of fast particles moving through time-dependent random force fields with correlations that decay rapidly in space, but not necessarily in time. The time dependence of the averaged kinetic energy and…
It is often claimed that the fundamental laws of physics are deterministic and time-symmetric and that therefore our experience of the passage of time is an illusion. This paper will critically discuss these claims and show that they are…
Real Time Relativity is a computer program that lets students fly at relativistic speeds though a simulated world populated with planets, clocks, and buildings. The counterintuitive and spectacular optical effects of relativity are…
Even though there has been a tremendous amount of research done in how to help students learn physics, students are still coming away missing a crucial piece of the puzzle: why bother with physics? Students learn fundamental laws and how to…
An attempt to construct a phenomenological theory of earthquakes is being undertaken by a small research team, which includes the author. We have only taken the first steps towards goal, but the results already obtained convincingly…
It is becoming common to hear teaching advice about spending more time on the "physics of the problem" so that students will get more physical insight and develop a stronger intuition that can be very helpful when thinking about physics…
The main topic of this article is a discussion about the best way to show students that the proportionality of mass and weight, strictly true for point-like particles, is an excellent approximation for objects of "normal" size. The usual…
The proper resolution of the so-called measurement problem requires a "top-down" conception of the quantum world that is opposed to the usual "bottom-up" conception, which builds on an intrinsically and maximally differentiated manifold.…
This paper outlines a deceptively complex problem in classical mechanics which the paper names the "Falling Astronaut Problem," and it explores a method for teachers to implement this problem in an undergraduate classroom. The paper…