Related papers: A.P. Balachandran: Living in Physics
Approximation methods for calculating individual particle/ field motions in spacetime at the quantum level of accuracy (a key feature of the Bohm Picture of Quantum Mechanics (BP)), are studied. Modern textbook presentations of Quantum…
Much progress has been made in the last few decades in developing the necessary mathematics for understanding the full implications of the quantum-mechanical many-body problem and why the material world appears to be as stable as it is…
From the philosopher's perspective, the interest in quantum computation stems primarily from the way that it combines fundamental concepts from two distinct sciences: physics (especially quantum mechanics) and computer science, each long a…
The long-standing challenge to describing charged particle dynamics in strong classical electromagnetic fields is how to incorporate classical radiation, classical radiation reaction and quantized photon emission into a consistent unified…
Wigner's "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics" in physics can be understood as a reflection of a deep and unexpected unity between the fundamental structures of mathematics and of physics. Some of the history of evidence for this is…
There is no doubt that the field of Fundamental Constants in Physics and Their Time Variation is one of the hottest subjects in modern theoretical and experimental physics, with potential implications in all fundamental areas of physics…
After reviewing the role of phase in quantum mechanics, I discuss, with the aid of a number of unpublished documents, the development of quantum phase operators in the 1960's. Interwoven in the discussion are the critical physics questions…
Classical thermodynamics is unrivalled in its range of applications and relevance to everyday life. It enables a description of complex systems, made up of microscopic particles, in terms of a small number of macroscopic quantities, such as…
Since more than a century we investigate cosmic particles coming from the Universe with the aim of understanding their nature, their origin and how they are accelerated. So far, cosmic rays have provided many impressive results, giving…
It is not very well known that the philosopher Karl Popper has been one of the foremost critics of the orthodox interpretation of quantum physics for about six decades. This paper reconstructs in detail most of Popper's activities on…
The job of a physicist is to describe Nature. General features, hypotheses and theories help to describe physics phenomena at a more abstract, fundamental level, and are sometimes tacitly assigned some sort of real existence; doing so…
In the 60s of the last century the few courses of History of physics in Physics degree were held by scholars who, apart from a few exceptions, did not have a specific research background in the field. Some activities, books, social…
We consider the quantum dynamics of a charged particle in Euclidean space subjected to electric and magnetic fields under the presence of a potential that forces the particle to stay close to a compact surface. We prove that, as the…
Professor Chen Ning Yang has made seminal and influential contributions in many different areas in theoretical physics. This talk focuses on his contributions in statistical mechanics, a field in which Professor Yang has held a continual…
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…
Along with weaving together observations, experiments, and theoretical constructs into a coherent mesh of understanding of the world around us, physics over its past five centuries has continuously refined the base concepts on which the…
Robert Harry Kraichnan {(1928-2008)} was one of the leaders in the theory of turbulence for a span of about forty years (mid-fifties to mid-nineties). Among his many contributions, he is perhaps best known for his work on the inverse energy…
Paul A. M. Dirac has been undoubtedly one of the central figures of the last century physics, contributing in several and remarkable ways to the development of Quantum Mechanics (QM); he was also at the centre of an active community of…
What follows is a broad-brush overview of the recent synergistic interactions between mathematics and theoretical physics of quantum field theory and string theory. The discussion is forward-looking, suggesting potentially useful and…
As a 30th anniversary tribute, I discuss the present and possible future impact of the physics and the physicists of BFKL.