Recent content by undefined314

There's definitely a lot more to figure out before deciding how to best allocate whatever budget she has. It will depend on the type of image processing being done. For example: How well can the tasks be parallelized? (Not just in theory, but in her implementation) Is it worth shelling out for...

This is a picture of a neon bulb, taken in an otherwise dark room with a blue gelatin filter between the bulb and the camera.

Eventually, there comes a time when one must become their own critic; perhaps by asking 'how do I know when I am right?' You will not always have a mentor to look over your shoulder and verify your work. While it's nice and convenient for textbooks to offer selected answers, or even solution...

Perhaps the only readily-available materials for sufficient shielding are very brittle and/or dense, making them unsuitable for use on vehicles/tents/portable things. Building and maintaining them might also be so cost-prohibitive that only the well-populated areas are worth the investment.

Heron's formula may be helpful to you. A triangle of side lengths a, b, and c has area given by the following equation: $$Area = \sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)},$$ Where s is the semiperimeter of the triangle. Restrict areas to positive integers, and see what falls out in combination with other...

I come from a school that is frequently in top 20-25 general lists for the U.S., but is not considered remarkable for physics (top ~60 for the subfields available, perhaps substantially better for quantum information theory). My advisor described our graduate physics program as a 'very, very...

I took a lab-oriented physics course where students could pick 3-4 experiments from a set of 12 to perform over the course of the semester. My second experiment was on the (normal) Zeeman Effect in the bright red spectral line of cadmium using a Fabry-Perot etalon. Thankfully, I wrapped up data...

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I applied during the last application cycle (11 programs, mostly reach, for condensed matter theory), but was not accepted anywhere. At the time, my plan was to take my B.S. in physics after completing my 3rd year by Spring 2020 if I got an offer. I hedged my bet with plans for adding a math...

Can I ask what you mean by "well-understood"? Just that applicants can't really know? Some suggest asking potential advisors if they plan on taking students for the next cycle, knowing that sometimes they'll give a straightforward (and hopefully honest) answer, other times not. I'm not sure...

Several universities say that taking courses pass/no-pass or credit/no-credit during terms disrupted by COVID-19 will not necessarily harm those applying to their graduate program. There are also more open-ended invitations for applicants to discuss how the pandemic has impacted their lives. In...

I'm planning on doing an (undergraduate-level) experiment to study Zeeman Splitting in Cadmium. There's no complete set of instructions for the lab, but after seeing the materials, it appears that I will attempt to use a cylindrical Fabry-Perot Etalon to resolve the wavelength differences...

Some graduate physics programs will have all students apply for their PhD program. If they are unwilling to offer you admission to the PhD program, they may offer to take you on for an M.S. In this case, or if you applied directly for an M.S., you would generally have to pay to attend...

I'm applying to physics graduate programs this fall. I volunteered with an experimentalist in my hometown (at a small undergraduate-only physics program) over this past summer (I'm going to keep it intentionally vague for privacy reasons, but let me know if you really think the response depends...

I recently looked at a transcript of a 1991 interview of Hans Bethe, where he recalled the suggestion that an atomic bomb could ignite the air. "Teller at Los Alamos put a very good calculator on this problem, [Emil] Konopinski, who was an expert on weak interactors, and Konopinski together...