Recent content by maughanster

Thanks for the reply! I don't know a ton about these types of problems. Say I want to numerically itegrate a system of 4 nonlinear ODEs as an IVP. Or what if I have PDES as an IVP and do RK4 and finite differencing. Can I know if my numerical solution is correct? Assume I do not have an...

Hi PF, Suppose I numerically solve a nonlinear system of differential equations. How can I know if my solution is correct (if there is no known analytic solution)? What are the standard practices people do? I have a couple of ideas, but I want to know what people are already doing. Danke!

mfb gave a good answer. After the collision, particle B is not stationary. Maybe this already clear, but the TOTAL momentum is conserved, not necessarily the momentum of each individual particle.

Hi All! A question that has been on my mind lately is how can a person be the best physicist that they can possibly be. Obviously 'best' is open to interpretation, so let's just say "How can a person make the largest impact on some field in physics that they are capable of". If we had to pick...

I would minor in CS if I were you. Even if you don't finish the minor, exposure to the ideas is valuable. Math is a fun minor. Business would be a good minor if you ever decide to earn an MBA. Other than that, I agree with everything in post number 2. If none of this sounds fun, minor is...

There is no need to triple major in these three majors to go into robotics. Professionally, you will likely not build a robot by yourself. As part of a team, you will design some part of a robot. If I were you, I would pick the major that interests me the most, minor in computer science, and...

Thank you Vanhees71! This is a wonderful and easy to follow proof. I don't regret what I came up with, because I learned (and re-learned) a lot, but your proof is far better! Thanks again! Case closed!

In terms of most pursuing engineering, that is typical of Physics I and II everywhere I believe. I had 400 kids in those classes and now that I am in upper division classes I have ~25 students in my classes. Maybe go sit in on an upper division physics class and see how you like it. I don't...

I am not the most qualified person to answer this question by any means. I am an undergraduate myself. There are a plethora of online resources that you can use to supplement the education you are receiving right where you are for FREE. Why are you not happy with the education you are...

Thank you again! I think I figured it out. I don't know why latex is not working for me. Here's my solution. I am quite familiar with the terms metric and Killing Vectors, in fact Killing vectors are symmetries of the metric. Pervect, what do you do your research in?

Thank you! I should have stated that the metric does NOT change with time. My real question is how to show that those values are conserved. Can I take the Lie Derivative of VaVa with respect to V and see if it is 0?

Hi Everyone! I have done three years in my undergrad in physics/math and this summer I'm doing a research project in general relativity. I generally use a computer to do my GR computations, but there is a proof that I want to do by hand and I've been having some trouble. I want to show that...

Hi everybody! To be concise -My undergraduate majors are math and physics -I want to go on and do research in physics (probably theoretical/mathematical physics) and be a professor. -My GPA is a 3.98 and Real Analysis and Abstract Algebra will likely drag down my GPA (I'm currently in these...

I believe that you could just increase the coefficients of friction (static or otherwise) to compensate for the "stickyness". I have not yet run into coefficients of stickyness in my studies. Just coefficients of friction. Are you working on anything specific, or just curious.

With what you just said and thinking things through a bit I think I finally figured out what i wanted to in the first place. thanks!