Recent content by uumlau

I think that while the article is technically correct in saying that it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate to the speed of light, it's a poor phrasing subject to misinterpretation. You don't even need math to understand why. All you need is the principle of equivalence as...

Or, why have an "interpretation" at all? Answer: because quantum mechanics doesn't allow one to apply the same intuitions as classical mechanics, so people try to explain how it works in a more-or-less "classical" way. Looking at the world as a simulation, while kind of nonsensical, at least...

Note that EPR, Bell's inequality and entanglement don't demonstrate "nonlocality" (though this is the common word for it) so much as it confirms the initial "superposition of states" as predicted by quantum mechanics. In other words, the initial state of the photons are not polarized in a...

No, the "mass" isn't dependent on velocity. The "mass-energy" is dependent on velocity. The easiest way to look at it is with the equation E^2 = p^2 + m^2 (##c## is set to "1" here, for mathematical convenience.) The ##m## in the equation above is the actual mass of whatever object you are...

Yes. My original statement was inaccurate to the degree that it implied the particle would exceed the speed of light in a directly measurable way. That's the problem with trying to simplify the explanation of something that is really rather complex, and why I included my preemptive "Very...

Yeah, it's more of a mathematical artifact than a physical phenomenon you could measure in a particle accelerator, for example. What we know for sure is that if our math needs to include this possibility of antiparticles in order to be accurate, and we do measure that accuracy that proves the...

Thanks for your replies. I'm not using the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, though it seems I am. Note that I said, "Very roughly speaking," in order to present a more simplified view of what was going on for those who aren't as familiar with quantum mechanics. More formally speaking, when...

An interesting aspect of black body radiation (mentioned in passing in the wiki link above) is that it was explained by Planck as being the result of light being emitted in discrete particles, now called photons. The black body radiation equation has Planck's constant in it. It is the first...

The limitation is that on your almost-light-speed ship, if you aim a flashlight in the direction you are going, the light doesn't ooze forth in a slow-motion way. It's still going LIGHT SPEED! Yes, you should be thinking "What the ... ??" about now. The overall rule that Einstein posited and...

A clarification of my initial points: for the frictional force to STOP rotation without also stopping translation, it must be 100% symmetrical around the center of mass for the frictional force to STOP translation without also stopping rotation, it must be 100% against the direction of...

Yes. There has to be an acceptable qualitative explanation that, even if you cannot write out all the math, proves the behavior from first principles. This is close to the correct approach. It can be refined by noting the following two principles: for the frictional force to STOP rotation...