Recent content by B-80

For most problems you encounter, there won't be a textbook to tell you anything at all. Take a minute to understand the trick.

Study this argument carefully and see if that doesn't remind you of some elementary calculus:

This is how to proceed with calculating any expectation value (this has nothing to do with physics by the way, it's elementary probability theory). And you're basically right, except you're trying to calculate the average of p^2, yet you're only applying p once in the integral. Make sure you...

This is also relevant to my interests... Where did you find the proof if you don't mind me asking?

I am graduating from PSU next semester with a physics degree. I plan to go to grad school, but I can tell you that my friends looking for work are having no trouble. A physics degree puts you in a position to work in almost any field. I know people who have gotten job offers from financial...

You really should have taken the phys GRE if you wanted to get into Stony Brook. Infortunately most schools don't like to take their undergrads for grad school (it happens, but you have to be stronger than their average candidate). If you really have your heart set on SB, then you should start...

I'm sure you understand that you have a strong profile as far as numbers go. You would have a chance at any graduate school you chose (of course just because you have the grades to get in somewhere doesn't mean you will). If you are unsure whether or not you would like to continue your...

I am writing a script right now which at one point needs to calculate RA and Dec. There is a telescope pointing directly upwards(altitude=90 deg) and I know where the telescope is located and the time when I get an event. When the telescope sees something my script reads some info and I need...

Awesome thread man, thanks. It seems like I legit have no chance to get into a top 20 school, but I should have a chance somewhere.

Python has a huge library just like C, and not everything needs to be done on a supercomputing level, just as you said why C is obvious, Python just seems to be the standard... Python is really not that much slower than C, especially when it's compiled, it's more than sufficient for most...

I just had a meeting with the head of graduate admissions asking him just this(in fact part of the reason I posted this was to gather my thoughts). He was the first person who I worked for, so we have a pretty good relationship, he tried to put it nicely to me, and he basically said if I do...

I posted this on Reddit and someone recommend I ask here: Also, where can I go to get an idea of fields of research? I know unless I get a 90%+ on the physics GRE I don't have a shot doing Unification stuff. Like I said I really enjoyed QM and Relativity, and the questions they try to answer...

C/C++/python/Bash I've been coding for my physics dept for 2 years now, and that's what they want here at least.

Hey, I have had a lot of trouble understanding how one obtains a Maxwell relation. So let's say in general I know(from a specific problem) T ds = dE - F dL where F is a tension and L is a length, E is the energy T is the temperature and S is the entropy of a system. In a specific...

Homework Statement i) Show that the wave equation: [( -1/c^2) d^2/dt^2 + d^2/dx^2 + d^2/dy^2 + d^2/dz^2 ]u(t,x,y,z) = 0 is invariant under a Lorentz boost along the x-direction, i.e. it takes the same form as a partial differential equation in the new coordinates. [Use the chain rule in two...