Light

The heaviest anchor of Physics is light.

Lando Asisten, Jr. and I have been contemplating recently on the foundations and frontiers of math and physics. (Lando is a genius Pinoy mathematician. Among his feats is a perfect score in Praxis Test, an international standard licensure examination and certification for teachers [1].) As a start, we are looking at the properties of light. After all, light should illuminate our way forward.

It has been widely believed that time is the great equalizer. All of us have 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week and so on. Technically speaking, this is false. Einstein's Relativity made it so. Instead, what is constant is light, or specifically, the speed of light. At least, this is the currently accepted principle among modern physicists.

When I checked the literatures, it appears that physicists eventually agreed to make the speed of light constant. The next question is, if it is constant, what is the value? Interestingly enough, the constant value varied or evolved through the years as a consequence of refinement on measurement experiments. The currently accepted value is 299,792,458 m/s (or about 186,000 miles per second) which was adopted only in 1983 [2]. The first experiment was done in 1676 by Ole Christensen Roemer, a Danish astronomer. Roemer made his calculations by observing the motion of Jupiter. [3]

We intend to join the fray. Our approach is a more intuitive way. Find first the value of the speed of light and if the values are the same wherever, then the speed of light is constant.

From the Cerebral Laboratory of the Institute of Math and Science in Ohio and Maryland, we came up with following Asisten-delaTorre Equation for the Speed of Light, c.

A is a fixed point while B is a point in space equidistant from A. Hence, B is the set of points on a spherical surface domain.

Time t is equal to the quotient of distance CD and film belt speed r. CD is the distance on a constantly moving film belt perpendicular to the path AB. C is the starting point while D is the point where light hits the belt first. The measurement is valid when the film belt is equal or greater than the speed of light. With some tinkering on this speed range, we may be able to demonstrate the wave-particle duality of light, hence offering us a glimpse of both the realm of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. This can be observed from the print that the light would make on the film belt.

If the film belt is too slow, the light may hit it very close to C or at point C itself which makes C = D. This is the lower limit of the experiment.

Why are we proposing this? Well, we could see shady areas in the previous experiments. If you are curious, maybe you should contact us. If you do, you are probably a brilliant scientist.

Or a psychiatrist.

And your common message is: wake up!

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References:

1] ETS. 2008. Praxis Test. http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.fab2360b1645a1de9b3a0779f1751509/?vgnextoid=48c05ee3d74f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&WT.ac=Praxis+Brochure+and+Front+Door. Last accessed: July 29, 2008.

2] University of California-Riverside Mathematics Department. 2008. How is the speed of light measured? http://www.math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/measure_c.html.

Last accessed: July 29, 2008.

3] Hawking, S. 1998. Space and Time. A Brief History of Time, Chapter 2, p. 19.

SurPrize::

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:: SurPrize :: Ohio State University :: 06.24.2008 ::

French Kiss

This is my latest experiment, which I call French Kiss.

“It's sweet?!” said a German friend who looked surprised.

And it is not supposed to taste sweet?

It's already cooked when I found out more about it. There are actually several versions of it from the internet but I just picked the first one with a picture. The recipe is called Spinach-Mushroom Quiche. The proper pronunciation is with a long e, ending with sh. It is \'kēsh\, not ki-che [2]. However, I insist to call my own quiche a 'kiss' because I learned that quiche is a French cuisine [1] with German roots. Kuchen is German for cake and it soon became quiche [3]. I am neither French nor German so I can be excused when I say, “Would you like to try my French Kiss?”

Quiche is a baked dish which closely resembles a tart. The ingredients, mainly spinach, mushroom, cheese and milk, are mixed and poured into the crust for baking. Ham is also a popular ingredient. In the original version, cheese is not included [3].

The crust is either neutral or a bit salty, but not sweet. Well, there was only one kind of crust at Giant Eagle and I presumed (incorrectly, I found out later) that all ready-made crusts are general purpose. When I rechecked the pack, it says “crust for chocolate mousse.” No wonder.

Dough and crusts will be included in my next experiments. For now, here's my sweet French Kiss.

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References

[1] Food Reference. 2008. Quiche. http://www.foodreference.com/html/fquiche.html. Last accessed: July 23, 2008.

[2] Merriam-Webster. 2008. Quiche. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quiche. Last accessed: July 23, 2008.

[3] Wikipedia. 2008. Quiche. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiche. Last accessed: July 23, 2008.

John F. Nash, Jr.::

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:: A Beautiful Mind :: 07.27.2008 ::

Princeton University

Now I can say, “When I studied in the US, I went to the top school: Princeton University.”

I realized only after the trip how prestigious Princeton University is. It belongs to the Ivy League and is currently the top school in the US. The 2nd to 8th spots are taken by the following: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, CalTech, MIT, Duke. Ohio State University is 57th [3].

Wikipedia says Princeton has been at the top spot from 2001 to 2008. Worldwide, Princeton University can be easily spotted at the top ten [7].

In 2008, it has the 3rd most selective acceptance rate of 10%. Both Harvard and Yale have an acceptance rate of 9%. Other schools have these figures: Stanford, 11%; MIT, 13%; CalTech, 17% [2]

I never looked at this figure before. All I care about was visit the workplace of Lolo Albert.

While Lolo Albert contributed a great amount of fame to Princeton University, it is also true that this school is home to many other breeds of geniuses. In particular, my readings about Lolo Albert brought me to these three:

Sir Andrew Wiles. He is largely known for solving Fermat's Last Theorem in September 2004. (Actually, Pareng Jong introduced Fermat's Last Theorem to me a long time ago in Nueva Ecija.) Just imagine, this math problem has eluded the most brilliant minds for 330 years. Dr. Wiles, only 55 years old now, is the current chair of the Math Department [4, 1].

Dr. John Nash. This mathematician is the subject of A Beautiful Mind (2001, starring Russel Crowe). (Again, Pareng Jong introduced the movie and Dr. Nash to me.) In support of his application to Princeton University Mathematics Department, his adviser Dr RJ Duffin wrote a recommendation letter with one short sentence: “This man is a genius.” Later, Dr. Nash (along with two others) won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics for his game theory [6].

Dr. Edward Witten. He is widely acclaimed as the modern Newton for his leading role in superstring theory. He has numerous awards including the Fields Medal (1990) and Crafoord Prize (2008). [5] I have read part of his writings on string theory and it is the most easy to read and understand material that I have touched so far on advanced physics. Well, I don't pretend to have learned a lot so as to be able to teach it myself but at least, I feel I have progressed considerably about the subject (with only one such paper) compared to my struggles with several other papers on the same topic. Sometimes, a difficult subject is easier to face by going to the advanced source.

[more princeton pictures here]

With the amazing brains and elegant buildings around, I feel fortunate and dignified that at one point in my life, I breathed the same oxygen, walked the same path of Princeton grounds where Lolo Albert and the current geniuses of our time found home.



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References:

[ 1 ] Princeton University. 2008. Faculty Directory. http://www.math.princeton.edu/directory/. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.


[ 2 ] US News and World Report. 2008. Lowest acceptance rates. America's Best Colleges 2008. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/webex/lowacc_brief.php. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.

[ 3 ] US News and World Report. 2008. National Universities: Top Schools. America's Best Colleges 2008. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.

[ 4 ] Wikipedia. 2008. Andrew Wiles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wiles. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.

[ 5 ] Wikipedia. 2008. Edward Witten. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Witten. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.


[ 6 ] Wikipedia. 2008. John Forbes Nash. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.

[ 7 ] Wikipedia. 2008. Princeton University. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_University. Last accessed: July 11, 2008.

Princeton::

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:: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey :: 07.05.2008 ::