Recent content by Opus_723

  1. O

    I Equipartition theorem and Drag

    Okay, that makes sense, but I'm having trouble seeing how the two pictures connect. If I measure <p(dp/dt)> for one particle, it should be zero, and yet the motion of that particle could be well described by a Langevin equation that has a nonzero <p(dp/dt)> due to the drag term. Is it just that...
  2. O

    I Equipartition theorem and Drag

    If I have a many-body Hamiltonian, and I choose a coordinate x with canonical momentum p, I can say that by the generalized equipartition theorem that <p(dH/dx)> = -<p(dp/dt)> = 0 Since p and x are distinct phase space variables, and since by the Hamiltonian equations of motion the force...
  3. O

    I Coordinate Systems After Deformation of Axes

    Thanks for responding! I'm actually pretty familiar with curvilinear coordinates, where you have families of surfaces. I should probably be more specific about what I'm interested in: In this case the space I am starting with is actually a 2N-dimensional Hamiltonian phase space, with positions...
  4. O

    I Coordinate Systems After Deformation of Axes

    Disclaimer: I am a physics student and I have very little knowledge of topology or differential geometry. I don't necessarily expect a complete answer to this question, but I haven't really found any reference that approaches what I'm trying to ask, so I'd be quite happy to simply be pointed in...
  5. O

    A Help with the Proof of an Operator Identity

    I'm trying to come up with a proof of the operator identity typically used in the Mori projector operator formalism for Generalized Langevin Equations, e^{tL} = e^{t(1-P)L}+\int_{0}^{t}dse^{(t-s)L}PLe^{s(1-P)L}, where L is the Liouville operator and P is a projection operator that projects...
  6. O

    I Higher-Order Time Correlation Functions of White Noise?

    Thank you. This is exactly what I needed, and in retrospect makes a lot of sense. I will note that the Kronecker delta *is* necessary in my particular problem as I have uncorrelated forces acting on different particles, but I probably didn't make that very clear. Thanks again!
  7. O

    I Higher-Order Time Correlation Functions of White Noise?

    Suppose I have Gaussian white noise, with the usual dirac-delta autocorrelation function, <F1(t1)F2(t2)> = s2*d(t1-t2)*D12 Where s is the standard deviation of the Gaussian, little d is the delta function, and big D is the kronecker delta. For concreteness and to keep track of units, say F...
  8. O

    A Question about QFT Diagrams and their Integrals

    And naturally, after puzzling over what was happening all day, I think it finally clicked about 10 seconds after posting this question, and I feel really silly. If I'm right, the appearance of that degenerate propagator is completely fine, since it corresponds to the loop in the tadpole? This...
  9. O

    A Question about QFT Diagrams and their Integrals

    I am studying the terms in the dual Taylor expansion of Z_{1}(J) in \phi^{3} theory, and being introduced to Feynman diagrams in the process. I thought I would try to simplify one of the terms in the expansion so that, after taking derivatives of all the sources, I ended up with integrals that...
  10. O

    I Amplitude to go from one state to another

    If it's just defined that way for any state, I haven't seen a text explicitly state that. In Shankar, for example, the closest I can find in the postulates is this: "If the particle is in a state |ψ>, measurement of the variable (corresponding to) Ω will yield one of the eigenvalues ω with...
  11. O

    I Amplitude to go from one state to another

    Okay, for definiteness, say that |ψ> is a wave packet with some spread of momentum. Then, for example, <x|eiHt/ħ|ψ> makes sense to me as the probability amplitude of finding the particle at position x after a time t, during which the wave packet propagated, dispersed, etc. This makes sense to me...
  12. O

    I Amplitude to go from one state to another

    I have a question about probability amplitudes to go from one state to another. I think it'll be clearest if I start with the case that I understand. Suppose I start in some initial state |ψ>, and I let it evolve over time t to some state eiHt/ħ|ψ>. Now, if I want to know the probability that...
  13. O

    I How Does Shankar Transition from Sums to Integrals in Feynman Path Integrals?

    I am going through Shankar's treatment of Feynman Integrals right now, and I have one lingering doubt that I can't quite seem to work out. I was pretty happy with the idea of discretizing time, then doing independent sums over xi at each time. But Shankar simply says that we can consider the...
  14. O

    How RFID Tags Work: Detailed Explanation for Physics Students

    I'm afraid my Google-fu is failing me. Try as I might, I can only find very basic descriptions online of how RFID tags (specifically passive ones) work. I'd like to actually know what the microcontroller in the tag does, and how it creates a signal the reader can pick up and decode. For example...
  15. O

    Schools How to check school ranking by field?

    I've heard a lot about different schools having stellar reputations in certain subfields of physics, and that this likely matters more for career advancement than how "highly ranked" the school is overall. My question is, as someone who isn't currently plugged into an academic community, how can...
Back
Top