Recent content by DaveE

Home built confocal (and similar) resonators aren't THAT finicky. Many people have built low performance, low reliability, and often higher cost lasers at home. It's OK as a maker hobby, but not the way to actually get a good laser. But resonator alignment isn't really very hard. Even I could...

Virtually all lasers use this, or similar, techniques internally to function optimally. You won't make their design better by adding your own. In practice, retroreflections can cause significant problems in performance and reliability for lasers.

The commercial airline industry has an amazing safety record mostly based on the creation of structured rules and compliance. The primary issue I have with this guy isn't his apparent ability to operate the aircraft, but his compliance to standards. If he cheats on this reasonable requirement...

This is a strawman argument. Simulators never represent "real" systems (chaotic or not) with perfect accuracy. Engineers never create models of reality that are perfect, it's just too hard and wasteful. The simulator and it's inputs are valuable as an approximation, like nearly every analysis...

For this sort of chaotic oscillator I don't think the ICs (or the Butterflies) matter much. Run the simulation longer and it will access virtually all of the locally available states.

OK, It's not a great sailboat, and it's not a great power boat. But it is suitable for it's purpose. Jack of all trades, master of none. Everyone knows this, it just takes one look. Don't #@%$ on other peoples boat choices, they may want different things than you do. They may have different...

I'm not sure what you mean by "a spike", the circuit oscillates chaotically, so everything is changing. But, generally, you won't get a current spike out of an inductor. The negative resistance current is proportional to the voltage on C1, which also doesn't change quickly. OTOH, the resistor...

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/ap-calculus-bc/bc-differential-equations-new/bc-7-1/v/differential-equation-introduction?

Simulations can be very valuable when used appropriately. That's the problem; people think it's an easy answer to every circuit question. They are not. They are a tool that can help an engineer that knows the subject matter and knows their limitations. I would break down their appropriate use...

In the ideal circuit model: The only element that can dissipate energy is the resistor. The negative resistor (Chua diode) can only produce energy. These must be in balance on average for the oscillation be bounded and sustain itself. But clearly they both vary chaotically throughout the...

If y'all think repeating your position over and over, and over and over, and... will convince the other guy, you may want to focus a bit more on communication and negotiation skills than physics. Let it go. This problem is solved. You don't have to be more right than the other guy.

This reminds me of a similar story about the old 12 meter America's Cup yachts. A classic yacht designer designed a hull with a fine bow and rounded stern for the race. The yacht club hired a Caltech physicist*, who did aerodynamic work among other things, to help. He said it looked like a...

Yes, but the information is out there. It's not that hard to find, but it is hard to understand. Fluid dynamics is a complex subject. Sailors want easy answers, but it's just not an easy subject. You can start with this:

Think of a fin keel more like an airplane wing. It generates lift in exactly the same way. So to some extent it isn't just resisting drift to leeward but pulling the boat to windward. Fins make more efficient lifting devices. So, "why do airplanes have long wings?" is a similar question. Lift...

Probably with Thermo-electric coolers (TECs) based on the Peltier effect. You can google these keywords to learn more.