physics – Penfluky

One-Electron Universe Theory A Crazy Idea!

In the last science article, we have understood the concept of the Mars Rover. In this article, we will learn the concept of the One-Electron Universe Theory.

One-Electron Universe:

It is the hypothesis that all electrons and positrons are manifestations of a single entity moving backwards and forwards in time. In simple terms, according to this theory, there is only one electron that moves backwards and forward in time.

By moving and interacting with the past and the future, the electron bounces itself in the past and future. It interacts with itself an infinite number of times and produces an infinite number of electrons.

The basic idea of the one-electron theory is that every single electron in the universe is the one same electron travelling forwards and backwards in time. The idea is a bit crazy! One the other hand, the approach was revolutionary for the time.

Let us understand the history behind this idea.

History:

In the Spring of 1940, one of the famous physicist, John Wheeler called his favourite student Richard P Feynman. Wheeler said that all the electrons have the same charge and mass because they all are the same electron.

Wheeler got this idea because all the electrons have the same charge and identical mass. So he anticipated that all the electrons are a single electron.

The same electron moves back and forth in time and interacts with itself an infinite number of times. By interacting with itself, it produces an infinite number of electrons.

According to this theory, when an electron moves backwards in time, its a positron. Which is an antimatter particle of an electron.

Positron: A positron is the opposite of an electron. It has a positive electric charge.

Mathematically the one-electron universe theory has a very significant impact on many quantum mechanics calculations. But it failed to answer the question, if this theory is right, why there is very less antimatter found in the universe compared to normal matter.

Let us understand a few of the applications of the one-electron theory.

Applications:

This theory was very helpful in getting many calculations of quantum mechanics.
One-Electron universe if the first theoretical basis of time travel.

In conclusion, the one-electron theory might not be successful in experiments. But the premise of this helped us solve a lot of physics problems. This theory is also the basis of the recent Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece “Tenet.”

Mars Rover: Understanding And Applications

On February 18, 2021, we had a significant breakthrough in the realm of science, “perseverance rover” is now on Mars and is alive. So congratulations to all of us on this big milestone. We as humans should be proud of that mega event and the development in science we had. Let us understand the concept of the Mars rover.

Mars Rover:

Mars rover is an automated motor vehicle that moves across the surface of the planet Mars upon arrival.

Let us now understand the history of the Mars rover.

History Of Mars Rover:

This is not the first mars rover on mars, there were few of them in past. Let us understand them.

On July 4, 1997, the USA spacecraft launched “Mars Pathfinder.” This was the first rover to operate on mars. This was one of the best mission to the world of science. It was responsible for many technologies like airbags in cars and obstacle avoiding robots.

On January 25, 2004, NASA landed “Opportunity rover”. The mission was to determine whether life could ever have arisen on Mars (focusing particularly on searching for ancient water) and characterizing the climate and geology of Mars. The rover is now not active, NASA on 13th February 2019 gave an official declaration that it is inactive.

On August 6, 2012, NASA landed “Curiosity rover”. Curiosity was about the size of a small SUV. It is 9 feet 10 inches long by 9 feet 1 inch wide and about 7 feet high. It had all the advanced features ( special cameras, spectrometers etc.,).

The recent success is the perseverance rover. It was launched on 30 July 2020 by NASA. With the rover, they have also launched a mars helicopter. This mission is to read the geologic history and look for any clues about past alien inhabitants. It will also select and cache rock samples that a future rover will fetch and return to Earth sometime within the next decade.

Perseverance helicopter, Image credit : NASA

Let us now Understand the applications of it.

Applications of Mars Rover:

The first rover helped us understand and invent airbags in cars which helped us save millions of lives.
For determining the mineralogy, texture, and structure of the Mars territory.
The spectrometer is for identifying promising rocks and soils for closer examination and for determining the processes of the Martian rocks. The instrument is designed to look skyward to provide temperature profiles of the Martian atmosphere.
For close-up investigations of the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks and soils.
To help us find extraterrestrial life on other planets.
In understanding the universe deeply.
To launch more satellites and other objects to improve GPS, cellular reception and other important things.

In conclusion, this is one of the biggest achievement in the field of science.

Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) Theory.

`In the last science article, we have understood the concept of Nuclear Energy. In this article, we will understand the concept of “quantum electrodynamics (QED).

Before we proceed to Quantum Electrodynamics, we should know the basic definitions of quantum physics and Electrodynamics.

Quantum Physics:

Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at its most fundamental level. The basic story of everything around us and including us are elementary particles.

So in simple terms, quantum physics is the study of everything in the universe. It explains how everything works in the universe. To know more about quantum physics, click here.

Electrodynamics:

It is a branch of physics that deals with the consequences emerging from the interactions of electric currents with magnets, with other currents, or with themselves.

Quantum Electrodynamics (QED):

In simple words, it is a theory which explains how electromagnetic radiation interacts with matter on an atomic level. In other words (physics terms), in particle physics, quantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. Therefore, In principle, it describes how light and matter associate.

It is the first theory where the full correspondence between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved. To know more about relativity, click here. Let us understand the history of quantum electrodynamics.

History:

Paul Dirac has the credit of the first basis of QED during the 1920s. He got the basis by calculating an excitation of a subatomic particle from a higher energy level to low energy level ( Also called spontaneous emission).

As the calculations were not precise due to the advancement in technology, a new theory was the need of that hour. Therefore, In 1948, there came a revolution with the precise and accurate calculations of QED.

Three of the brilliant minds in the ream of physics named Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger and Richard P. Feynman got the calculations precisely for QED. They were awarded Nobel Prize Jointly in the year 1965 for ” their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles.”

The most important Physicist of the above realm who not only has a major contribution to QED but also many fields of physics is Richard P. Feynman. Lets us see his view on the same.

Feynman’s view of Quantum Electrodynamics:

The key components of Feynman’s presentation of QED are three basic actions.

A photon goes from one place and time to another place and time.
An electron goes from one place and time to another place and time.
An electron emits or absorbs a photon at a certain place and time.

These were represented by diagrams known as “Feynman diagrams” which revolutionized modern physics forever.

Feynman Diagrams:

They are pictorial descriptions of the mathematical expressions representing the behaviour and interaction of subatomic particles.

The following image is the Feynman diagram.

To know more about fermions, photons, gluons, Higgs boson and other concepts of particle physics, click here.

Applications Of Quantum Electrodynamics:

In Moessbauer-spectroscopy which is a way to determine the elements in a sample by scattering of gamma radiation.
Engineering modern nuclear fission and fusion technologies.
In modern optics.
Building quantum devices (like quantum computers, quantum chips etc.,)

In conclusion, quantum electrodynamics is very important to understand the functionality of our universe.

Nuclear Energy : UnderstaTnding And Uses Of It.

In the last science article, we have learnt the concept of the information paradox. In this article, we shall learn the concept of nuclear energy and the important uses of it.

Nuclear Energy:

Nuclear Energy is the energy that is present within the nucleus of an atom. An atom is a small unit of matter which makes up everything in the universe.

Nuclear Energy is useful in creating Electricity. But as the energy is within the atomic nuclei of an atom. Therefore, we need to separate it from atomic nuclei and use it.

The process is extremely difficult, and nuclear power plants are used to split atoms of an element and extract the energy. To extract the energy from the nuclei of the atoms, nuclear fission is done.

Nuclear Fission:

Nuclear fission is a process in which, the nucleus of a single atom splits into two or more nuclei.

The most commonly used fuel for nuclear energy is Uranium 235. The basic concept of a nuclear reactor working is “Controlled chain reaction.”

Chain Reaction:

A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions in which the reactive or by-product causes additional reactions.

Let us know understand how a nuclear reactor inside a nuclear plant works.

The outer layer of the plant is covered with concrete steel structure and is called containment.
Heavy water or graphite is used as a moderator to control the speed of atoms coming out of the fuel.
The generally used fuel material is uranium—U-235.
Control rods like cadmium, hafnium or boron are used.
A nuclear reactor has a coolant like water or molten salt. The heat from the chain reaction reacts with coolant and produces steam.

Working Of A Nuclear Reactor: Let us understand how a nuclear reactor works.

Uranium 235 is filled inside a nuclear reactor.
The atoms of uranium collide with a neutron, this released a chained reaction and a huge amount of energy.
Control rods like cadmium, hafnium or boron are inserted to absorb the excessive atoms produced by fission. By this, the chain reaction is controlled.
The moderator liquid is used to control the speed of atoms and slow down the reaction.
The Energy from the fission reacts with coolant and produces steam.
The steam is then used to run turbines to produce electricity.

This is how a nuclear reactor works. It is one of the important forms of renewable energy on this planet.

Black Hole Information Or Information Paradox

In the last article, we have understood the concept of “Entropy.” In this article, let us understand the concept of the Information paradox

One of the unsolved mystery in science is the “Black Hole Information Paradox.” To understand this, we need to understand a few terms of physics.

Quantum Physics: Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at its most fundamental level. To know more on quantum physics, click here.

Black Holes: A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, no particles or even light can escape. To know more on black holes, click here.

Event Horizon: It is the boundary surrounding the region of space of a black hole from which nothing (not even light) can escape.

Hawking’s Radiation: It is thermal radiation black holes emit, due to quantum effects near the event horizon.

As we all know, everything in this universe is made of matter. If we divide matter into the smallest particles we get subatomic particles. They are the building blocks of everything in this universe.

Let us take an object, for example, any flammable substance. No matter how much you burn it, the quantum level of the substance remains the same in the universe. It stays in some or the other form.

There is a vital law of physics here ” The total amount of quantum information in the universe must be conserved.” Theoretically, knowledge of that information will help us recreate the substance again.
When an object falls into the black hole, it seems that it leaves the universe.

The object might be in the black hole. Theoretical proofs suggest that the objects quantum information might be present in the event horizon of the black hole. As the black holes’ mass increases by taking in the objects, the area of the black hole. Therefore the event horizon increases.

According to Hawking’s radiation, black holes evaporate gradually over time. Black holes loose mass, as they discard particles from the event horizon. Hawkings radiation shows that the particles that come out from the event horizon are not the same that has entered.

As the black hole evaporates completely, we do not have any information on the particles that have entered the black hole. This is the information paradox of black hole. Till now there is no exact proof for this paradox.

Entropy: Understanding And Importance Of It.

In the last science article, we have understood the concept of Particle Physics. In this article, we will understand the concept of “Entropy” and the Importance of it.

Entropy: In simple terms, the entropy of a system is the measure of the amount of energy that cannot do work. It is a measurable physical characteristic generally associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty in science terms.

The concept of entropy presents a deep insight into the area of natural change for various daily events. Not only in science, but entropy also helps us to understand the day to day events of our life.

The entropy concept was introduced by a German Scientist named “Rudolf Clausius” in the year 1865. Entropy came into existence to tackle a mathematical formulation to explain a body changes through heat transfer between that body and different environments.

Entropy applies to every part of our lives. It is inescapable, and even if we try to ignore it, the result is a breakdown of some kind. Indeed understanding entropy guides to a drastic difference in the way we see the universe.

Entropy also paved the way to one of the most Significant laws of physics. Entropy is one of the vital parts of “Second Law Of Thermodynamics.”

Second Law Of Thermodynamics: The second law states that “The total change in entropy of a system and its surroundings will always increase spontaneously.”

In simple terms, if no energy enters or leaves the system in all energy transfers, the state’s potential energy will always be less than that of the original state.

Applications Of Entropy:

Understanding the surface time contributions of string theory. To learn more about string theory, click here.
Measuring and manipulating the system based on the data gathered by computation in quantum physics. To learn more about quantum physics, click here.
Understanding the concept of Entropic Gravity to understand the concepts of relativity. To learn more about concepts of relativity, click here.
Studying how dark matter is distributed among galaxies. To learn more about dark matter and dark energy, click here.
Calculating why positrons repel each other in antimatter. To learn more about antimatter, click here.
Studying the laws of thermodynamics on the event horizons of black holes. To learn more about black holes, click here.
Grasping the gravitational properties of exotic properties in wormholes. To learn more about wormholes, click here.
Learning why system leads to disorder in chaos theory. To learn more about chaos theory, click here.
Deriving the concepts of particle position in particle physics. To learn more about particle physics, click here.
Understanding deeply about civilizations on the Kardashev scale. To learn more about the Kardashev scale, click here.
Learning on how a car runs by converting fuel into heat.
To transmit a message via any channel.
The digestion of food, the digestion, is how food converts to energy for the body.

Thus the concept of entropy is very very important to understand many concepts of physics and real life.

String Theory and Philosophy, A Perfect Puppet Show Of Life.

We have been on this planet for around 5 to 7 million years. We have discovered a lot of things for survival, comfort, luxury, so and so forth. With the help of science, we were able to do tremendous things like space travel, mars rover etc. One of such achievements to unite everything or a universal theory is string theory.

String theory states that the fundamental elements of the universe are one-dimensional “strings” rather than point-like particles what we observe as particles are vibrations in loops of string, each with its characteristic frequency. It is like a guitar string when pulled instead of making sounds each vibration is a different particle. If you want to learn more on string theory, click here.

So you might be doubting string theory is science and on the other hand, philosophy is entirely different. How are they two linked? I will explain that. Before we proceed, I want to say that this is an observation of mine. I might be wrong, but this is the closest observation I could get out of science and philosophy for living creatures on earth.

As we all know, almost every human is born the same. The same number of organs, the exact size of organs, and we are very similar to each other in terms of functionality of the body in physical form. Some of the children are born with rare conditions, that is due to the evolution of cells in reverse order or mutation of cells.

Cells are the fundamental structures of a human or animal body. A group of cells form a tissue, a group of tissues form an organ, and that creates a human body. If we study cell deeply and go the deep of it, a cell is a type of matter. The matter is nothing but a substance which has mass and takes up space.

If we divide matter further, we get atoms and sub-atomic particles. Therefore, atoms make up everything on this planet. If we take string theory into this, the sub-atomic particles which are not visible to the naked eye are considered as strings for better understanding of the universe and get a complete view of existence by science.

All the sub-atomic particles will have the same properties to prove this. This is at a physical level, and with the help of biology and science, we can confirm that it is identical for all the humans. But when we go to the mental level which is inside of humans, things change drastically as every human doesn’t think the same.

You can take any scenario, and humans tend to think differently and have different opinions. To prove that scientifically, all humans should be able to express the same emotions or feel the same about one scenario. But in an ideal situation that is not possible.

So, we take the help of philosophy to explain human behaviour. Philosophy tends to study peoples behaviour and attitude in different scenarios. Science and philosophy go hand in hand to help us understand almost everything about the universe. By using the same, we can study about nearly everything.

The story is incredible so far, but what if we try uniting the concepts of science and philosophy? Things get a bit complicated, but let’s try it. Taking string theory from science, each particle vibration produces different frequency and acts differently. As everything around is the matter, we act according to its vibrations.

According to science, we are all made of star material and space matter. So, if we still dive deep, the particles vibrating at a star which are considered as strings attach to the vibrating matter around us which are again vibrating strings. So on a giant scale, we look like puppets acting on this big canvas. Just imagine how fantastic it is!

The philosophy here kicks in in the form on conscious of the human and his nature. His conscious decides if he is reacting in the right away to the matter around him. By this, we can unite the science of string theory and philosophy of human to form the perfect approach to explain everything.

Books That Can Make You A Pro In Science.

In the past ten weeks, we have learnt ten science concepts which help us understand the universe in simple term. As we have reached ten parts for that, In this article, let us do something different. In the modern world where we are racing against time, the curiosity to learn is shrinking daily. and In this article, I will suggest some books which have simple language yet very efficient to understand complex concepts.

Before we proceed, if you are looking for some good books to read during your free time, my good friend and the one of the fellow author wrote an article on that topic. You can click here to read that. I’m not ranking the books; I’m just mentioning them as they come to my mind.

1.) Brief Answers to the Big Questions:

Written by one of the great minds of the world “Stephen Hawking”, this book is a must-have if you are interested to learn basic physics concepts. The book is straightforward to read and has that Hawking’s narration style.

Hawking’s narration is unique and has subtle humour to it. Therefore, it makes complicated topics sound much easier and enjoyable to read. The book is pretty straightforward, and it answers big questions very briefly and crisply.

2.) The Elegant Universe:

Written by one of the renowned physicist “Brian Greene”, this one of the books that cover String Theory. In this book, Greene uses the best approach to explain string theory in all the fields possible. The book has an elementary language.

It is that simple that you will never get a feeling you are studying one of the most challenging concepts of physics. A must-have books if you are interested to learn more on string theory and the applications of it.

3.) The Feynman Lectures on Physics:

Written by one of the great physicists, of all time, Nobel Laureate and an inspiration to many across the world “Richard P. Feynman.” Feynman’s narration is so excellent that you will fall in love with that just with the preface.

Feynman has a quote saying ” if you want to master something teach it” and he is also known as “The Great Explainer.” So by that, you can figure out how good of a teacher he was. One of the best books you can read in the realm of science.

4.) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry:

Written by one of the best orators of the physics world “Neil deGrasse Tyson” this is one of the best books of astrophysics. You will fall in love with Tyson’s clear, funny and crisp way of presenting the topics.

Tyson covered almost everything from the origin of the universe in the shortest format possible. He covered all the topics that are important and required. One of the best books ever written on astrophysics and science.

5.) A Brief History of Time:

Back to the great again, written by “Stephen Hawking”, this is one of the best sellers of all the time under science genre. Selling over 10 million copies, this is one of the most elegant books in the realm of science.

Hawking with humour and impeccable narration explained the concepts of time and space in the best possible manner. One of the must-have books if you are a science lover.

SIMPLE UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPLEX UNIVERSE PART-10.

In the last article, we have learnt the concept of “Particle Physics”. In this article, lets study the concept of “Kardashev Scale.”

We as a human race has faced many disasters and calamities. Natural calamities like earthquakes, floods, volcanos etc., Therefore, it is safe to assume that our ancestors have struggled a lot.

There are also good things that are going for us. Good things like space exploration, mars rover, vaccines and medication for few deadly diseases etc. We were successful to use science for our luxury and development.

What if, there was a scale to track the development of science and the chaos caused in the world. A scale would be awesome to measure it. One of the scales is “Kardashev Scale.”

Kardashev Scale: The Kardashev scale is a hypothetical scale for measuring a civilization’s technological advancement based on the amount of energy it has available to it. In other words, the Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy they can use.

In 1964 a Russian Astronomer named “Nikolai Kardashev” came up with this idea. He theorized that a civilization’s technical advancement runs parallel to the amount of energy that the civilization is able to harness and manipulate. Therefore, the more energy that a society can produce, the more technologically advanced they are.

The formula of the scale is K = (log10[P] – 6) / 10

Where K = Civilization’s Kardashev.
P = Power It Uses, In Watts.

Currently we are 0.7 on the scale. By using the above formula, Kardashev defined three types of Civilizations. They are,

Type 1: If we can use the energy of the entire planet then we are on Type 1 civilization of the Kardashev Scale. In other words, we must be able to use all the energy that is produced on our home planet.

Type 2: If we can use the energy produced by a Star, then we are in Type2 civilization of the Kardashev Scale. In other words, we would be colonizing stars and other planets and start living on them.

Type 3: If we can use the energy produced by a galaxy, then we are in Type 3 civilization of the Kardashev Scale. Man, that is a lot of energy!

Kardashev gave only three types of civilization. However, using the formula given by him, scientists were able to create four more. They are.

Type 4: If we can the energy produced by the universe, then we are in Type 4 civilization of the Kardashev Scale. Just imagine, the energy produced by the entire Universe! Goosebumps isn’t it?

Type 5: If we can use the energy produced by multiverses, then we are in Type 5 civilization of the Kardashev Scale. You will have the ability to jump around all the universes and have fun!

Type 6: This civilization is outside of the realm of science. If you are able to control space , time , create universes for fun then we are in Type 6 civilization of Kardashev Scale. It’s crazy isn’t it?

Type 7: This is like omnipresent and omnipotent. You can do anything, there are no limits. Here is the only imagination is your limit to imagine. There are no boundaries.

The Kardashev Scale is one of the important theory to conceptualize the future of Science.