What is General: Definition and 1000 Discussions

A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, or marines.In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel.The term general is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank.
It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of captain general, which rank was taken from Middle French capitaine général.
The adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction.
Today, the title of general is known in some countries as a four-star rank. However, different countries use different systems of stars or other insignia for senior ranks. It has a NATO rank scale code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies, air forces, and marine organizations.

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  1. Evo

    Which Threads Should Be Included in the General Discussion Classics?

    I have reopened the General Discussion classics thread to see if you want to suggest threads to be included or just let it go away (unsticky it). https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/general-discussion-classics.42220/
  2. PWiz

    Special relativity and general relativity

    I have studied most of the concepts of Newtonian mechanics and understood the calculations and derivations involving the concerned formulae. I have a basic knowledge of calculus (differentiation of products along with differentiation of trigonometric, logarithmic, exponential and implicit...
  3. W

    Properties, General Results on of Aut(G) ?

    Hi, just curious: I saw a result that for the multiplicative group G:= {1,-1, i, -i } , "every homomorphism ## h: G \rightarrow G ## is of the form ## z \rightarrow z^k ## for some ##k \in \mathbb Z ##. I can show this is true by considering the image of a generator, but I was wondering if...
  4. S

    General solution of second order ODE

    Homework Statement Find the general solution. Homework Equations y"+y=x2sin2x The Attempt at a Solution Characteristic equation would be: m2 + 1 = 0 So,m2 = -1 Therefore, m = i or m = -i. Complementary function would be : Asinx+Bcosx where,A and B are constants respectively. If I write...
  5. S

    General relativity vs special relativity

    Hello, Everybody! I'm new to the board, and am happy to have found you! I have six questions I can't seem to find the answers to, either in books or online -- yet I know the answers are out there! I'll post each question in a separate thread, and hope that someone who knows far more than I do...
  6. ELB27

    General equations for transmitted and reflected waves

    Homework Statement Suppose you send an incident wave of specified shape, ##g_I(z-v_1t)##, down string number 1. It gives rise to a reflected wave, ##h_R(z+v_1t)##, and a transmitted wave, ##g_T(z-v_2t)##. By imposing the appropriate boundary conditions [see below], find ##h_R## and ##g_T##...
  7. C

    Is a Pseudo-Riemann Metric Intrinsic to General Relativity?

    In considering special relativity as a limiting case of the general theory (without matter or curvature) the question arose as to whether the pseudo-riemann nature of the SR metric is actually an independant (essentially experimentally determined) assumption/property or derivable from the...
  8. aditya ver.2.0

    General Formula of benzene and diacetylene

    Is the General Formula of benzene and diacetylene the same?:nb):nb):nb)
  9. N

    Photon "escaping" from photon sphere in Schwarzchild space

    Homework Statement Close to a Schwarzschild black hole, a photon is emitted between r = 2(mu) and 3(mu), where \mu = \frac{GM}{c^2} . The photon is emitted at an angle (alpha) to the radial direction. At r = 2(mu), the highest angle that the photon can escape at is (alpha) = 0; at r = 3(mu)...
  10. G

    Is it true than general relativity can be deduced from a max

    Is it true than general relativity can be deduced from a maximum mass density for matter?
  11. P

    Having trouble understanding General moment

    On the website http://www.real-world-physics-problems.com/physics-of-billiards.html they take this equation ∑Mg = IG∝ where ∝ = -agx/r for the rotation of a rigid body where there is no slipping They then change the equation to F⋅(h-r) = IG(-agx/r) why is ∑MG = F⋅(h-r) when ∝= -agx/r?
  12. D

    GR Intuition: Measuring Physical Quantities on Tangent Spaces of M

    I am having trouble connecting some of the differential geometry in gr to what is actually measurable in the real world. As far as i understand we can measure physical quantities in terms of coordinates x^\mu on the tangent space of a 4-dim Pseudo-Riemannian manifold M. So let's say we are...
  13. T

    Learning General Relativity: Finding Examples with Numbers

    I am currently learning general relativity and I kind of understand what the symbols in einstein field equationd represent. But I need example like those that involves actual numerical values. I have been trying to search for it online but I cant. So does anyone mind showing me how you apply...
  14. Quarlep

    General Case of Relative Velocities

    I was looking relative velocities and I saw General case in Relativity part.That part means every direction isn't it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_velocity and in there B is the observer or A is the observer Thanks
  15. S

    APS Meetings - General or Undergrad Session?

    I hope this is the appropriate thread (I am a new user)--I figured any thread may be full of people who attend the APS meetings. I did a summer REU program, and my advisors want me to submit an abstract to the APS April meeting. I just found out there is an undergraduate session, but that...
  16. G

    How can it be deduced general relativity from planck length

    How can it be deduced general relativity from Planck length?
  17. C

    General Solution to a certain form of ODE

    While fiddling around with some very simple linear ODEs, I "discovered" a formula that gives a solution to ODEs of the form: ##y'+y=ax^n ##. here it is: i'm sure that this was discovered before, but i was just wondering if it had any official name or something.
  18. Paradox101

    Schrödinger's time-dependent equation (general)

    The Hamiltonian operator in the equation i×h/2π×∂/∂t×ψ=H×ψ(where 'i' is the imaginary no.,'h/2π' is just expanded form of the reduced Planck constant,'∂/∂t' is the partial derivative with respect to time 't' and ψ is the wave function) is,as I recall,H=I+V(i don't know how to get those carets...
  19. S

    Question about Space -- Is Space itself a 4th dimensional object?

    Ok, so I was just in physics class today and we were talking about special relativity... anyways, the instructor referred to how the universe is expanding, and so much so that there are places we could never ever get to because it's expanding fasterling than the speed of light. Anyways, this...
  20. M

    General definition of a discriminant

    Does the discriminant have any specific definition? I've come across two discriminant definitions that don't seem to be very relevant to each other, and I was wondering if there is any particular property that discriminants convey. In finding roots and using the quadratic equation, I've seen ##...
  21. N

    What topics should I review before taking Gen Chem 2?

    I'm planning on taking a second semester general chemistry course in the spring, and I'm wondering what I should study before hand. Based on RateMyProfessor, my teacher is going to be super hard. I took the first semester general chemistry course and I got an A in it, but that was last fall...
  22. S

    A thought experiment general relativity

    Let's assume the Earth was perfect sphere with radios of 6,750,000 meters. There are 3 clocks , one will not move one will move west in velocity V and the other will move east in the same velocity. The Earth is still rotating. So one clock is going with the Earth rotation and the outher is going...
  23. S

    General Relativity: Curvature and Stress Energy Tensor

    Hello all, I have a quick question regarding the relation of the space-time metric and the curvature. I have determined the space-time metric, g_(alpha beta), but I am unsure as how to go from the line element ds^2 = [ 1 + (dz/dr)^2] dr^2 + r^2 dtheta^2 and the space-time metric g to the...
  24. M

    Programs Name on Math degree, what is better: Applied or general?

    So I want to go into applied mathematics, I can either get a general math degree or an "applied and computational" degree. Does the degree title make a difference? The general math degree I can graduate a term sooner with, the main differences in the courses is that for the applied and...
  25. aditya ver.2.0

    Modifications in General Relativity

    Decades have passed since the first idea of General Relativity arose in the mind of Einstien. Surely development of the GR must have taken place during these years. May anyone one update me about these development that took place since the late past.oo):w
  26. M

    Forming a general summation of terms

    Hi, I was trying to form a summation for ##y_1## and have provided a solution but do not quite understand how it was formulated. I was trying to look for general patters and besides a ##(-1)^{n+1}x^2n## in the numerator, I'm a little lost on how to find a general term for the denominator. Also...
  27. R

    How to turn these symmetric equations into the general form?

    I was solving this problem and I didn't want to do it the really long way by finding the equation of B(t) by first finding T(t) and N(t). So i took the cross product of r' and r'' so that they would be in the direction of B. Found the parametric equation of the plane but the book answer was in...
  28. W

    General Theorems on Bounding Manifolds?

    Hi, there is a result that every closed, oriented 3-manifold is the boundary of a 4-manifold that has only 0- and 2- handles. Anyone know other of these "boundary results" for some higher-dimensional manifolds, e.g., every closed, oriented k-manifold is the boundary of a (k+1)- dimensional...
  29. K

    Why does the 2nd order homogeneous linear ODE have 2 general solutions?

    why not the 2nd order linear homogeneous ODEs have three Linearly independent solutions or more? I know for the characteristic equation, we can only find 2 answers but.. just wondering if that is the only case to solve the question and if it is, then why it has to be. so my question is,1. 2nd...
  30. A

    General Uncertainty Relation -- Why drop anticommutator?

    In the derivation of the generalized uncertainty principle (as pgs 1-2 of here), there is an anticommutator term that is dropped at the end, leaving just the commutator part...this is said to "strengthen" the relation, as both terms are positive. I don't understand this. So we basically have...
  31. binbagsss

    General Relativiy - Definition of a test body?

    I know it follows a geodesic in space-time, but is it not being able to bend space-time itself, part of the definition? When I google i just find 'follows a geodesic in space-time'. I thought that it also should not bend space-time itself - but this isn't included in the definitions I've...
  32. T

    General Process for finding elements of a group

    Hi, I'm trying to understand the process of finding the elements of a given group, such as SE(2). What I do understand is limited to finding elements of very simple symmetry groups, such as those corresponding to rotations/reflections of shapes. My overall knowledge of groups is also pretty...
  33. P

    Differential Geometry vs. General Relativity

    Hello, This spring, I will have the opportunity to do a one-on-one independent study in math or physics. I've narrowed down my choices to differential geometry and general relativity. I'm thinking about the future here- will studying general relativity this spring better prepare me for...
  34. T

    Calculating Weighted Averages in a Course

    the question statement is2. In a course, a student's final exam is weighted twice as heavily as his midterm exam. If a student receives a score of 84 on his final exam , 90 on his midterm, what is the average for his courses? now i am pretty confused should I have to know the total marks for...
  35. DREAMWALKER

    General Theory of Relativity Question

    Ok, I went through a video to understand it more simply. But there is one point I just don't understand. Which is this: How does Adam think others' clock is SLOW? Shouldn't it be FAST? Here's my breakdown of the video: Adam is in- Space Sarah is on - Ground Beam of light shone from the...
  36. DivergentSpectrum

    General method of parameterization

    is there a general formula/algorithm to parameterize an equation? for example if i have a function f(x,y)=0 then can i always change it to the form x(t),y(t)? or if i had g(x,y,z)=0 then can i change it to something like x(u,v),y(u,v),z(u,v) i know of examples, like if i have x^2+y^2=1 then...
  37. A

    The General Theory of Gravity and Light

    Hello! I am an undergraduate student currently pursuing my Bachelor's before I attain my PhD in Particle Physics. I do however have an exciting concept I would like to have to my name before I disclose it to the world; therefore, I was wondering how this would happen, and if it is possible...
  38. A

    General Rocket Propulsion book

    Hello, I've always been interested in space and space flights and have often wondered how rockets are lunched into space, how their trajectories are defined, how they are sped up (like gravity assist), how they are slowed down (like the complicated trajectory of the Rosetta mission etc . . . I...
  39. Leonardo Muzzi

    How are tidal effects explained by general relativity?

    I can fairly understand the concept of gravity as a curvature in space time in general relativity, but so far I could not understand completely the tidal forces explained by the curvature of spacetime. When the moon is on one side of the earth, the oceans on this side come closer to the moon...
  40. J

    General Particle Source in GEANT4

    I have created a macro file that should produce a Gaussian (Normal) distribution of gamma particles ranging in energy from 0 to 250 keV as follows: /control/verbose 0 /run/verbose 0 /tracking/verbose 0 /gps/particle gamma /gps/ene/type Gauss /gps/ene/min 0 keV /gps/ene/max 250 keV /run/beamOn...
  41. Ludwig

    General Work Functions: Validity Check

    I'm trying to derive a general work function (provided force and displacement vector-valued functions). Below are my best guesses. Can someone let me know whether these are valid? Rigid-System: ## \sum W = \int \left ( \sum \vec{F}(t)\cdot \vec{r}\,'(t) \right ) dt ## Deformable-system...
  42. I

    Expectation value in quantom mechanics (a general question)

    Homework Statement Hello, I'm a bit confused about the calculation of the expectation values. Normally, when I have a wave function of sort and I want to calculate the expectation value of some operator, I just insert it into the braket <ψ|A|ψ>, where ψ for example is a wave function composed...
  43. Z

    Why Does General Relativity Use Coordinate Systems?

    If you look at Newtonian gravity, there is no major deal with coordinate systems. I am guessing we use coordinate systems because in general relativity we think of coordinate systems as different frames of references and that all frame of references must have the same laws of physics. Is that why?
  44. A

    Additional prerequisites for General Relativity

    I am thinking of taking a course on General Theory of Relativity in the next semester of college. My major is in aerospace engineering. I have already completed courses on Calculus, Differential equations, Linear Algebra, and also have a fair bit of idea about tensor calculus. What other prior...
  45. A

    MHB Tough limit proof for a general f(x) and g(x)

    Hello, $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ have the following property: for all $\epsilon > 0$ and all $x$, $$ \text{if} \space 0 < |x - 2| < \sin^2(\epsilon^2/9) + \epsilon \space \text{then} \space |f(x) - 2| < \epsilon$$ $$ \text{if} \space 0 < |x - 2| < \epsilon^2 \space \text{then} \space |g(x) - 4| <...
  46. D

    I want to learn general relativity

    hello, I would like to learn general relativity. To understand general relativity, do I need to understand the math on a rigorous level? (the way mathematicians understand the math) . What math do I need? Can you suggest me some math/general relativity books? Thanks and sorry if my english...
  47. K

    Best Physics Books for Beginners - Read and Learn Now!

    I haven't studied much physics or mathematics in a few years, and I was wondering if someone could recommend me a few good books to get started? I don't want to miss anything important. I've been taking some free courses online, but I would love some reading materials to supplement.
  48. S

    Help Make Math Connect in General Relativity

    As some may know, I have been studying the Morris-Thorne wormhole metric for quite some time now. ds2= -c2dt2 + dl2 + (b2 + l2)(dθ2 + sin2(θ)d∅2) Now, from this space-time interval, it is easy to see how I would deduce the following metric tensor: g00= -1 g11 = 1 g22= (b2 + l2) g33= (b2 +...
  49. B

    Mechanical solutions for general electric problems

    Hey there, i need some help please :) As an assignment from my course, they asked us to bring some mechanical solutions for electric problems, and I don't mean in a specific area, i mean generally... i looked over the internet for it and found nothing.. If someone can please help with that would...
  50. V

    General solution to the wave equation of electromagnetic field

    Suppose that we have the four-vector potential of the electromagnetic field, [texA^i[/tex] The wave equation is given by $$(\frac {1}{c^2} \frac {\partial^2}{\partial t^2}-\nabla^2) A^i=0$$ Now the solution, for a purely spatial potential vector, is given by $$\mathbf{A}(t...
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