Recent content by yeahhyeahyeah

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    Energy of a QM system, stationary states

    I'm pretty confused by the rules regarding the total energy, the kinetic energy, and potential of a QM system. Does the total energy have to be positive or greater than zero? And if so, why not? I don't really understand what it means to have a negative total energy of a system I guess. I...
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    Relativistic collision and conservation

    Hey, I'm pretty confused by this relativistic collision problem. A particle of mass m moving along the x-axis collides elastically with a 2nd particle of identical mass at rest in the lab frame and scatters. Its final momentum makes an angle theta with the x-axis in the lab. If its initial...
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    Trying to find the eigenvectors of a hamiltonian operator

    Okay- I guess I was being stupid and trying to make them also orthogonal to each other. I assumed that the Hamiltonian had to be Hermitian- but the matrix I obtained isn't symmetric, (by the way, why not, I thought the Hamiltonian counts as an observable and has to be Hermitian?) So I got...
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    Trying to find the eigenvectors of a hamiltonian operator

    Thank you Diazona for your reply, Firstly, sorry- I wrote the problem wrong, it should actually be H = i\Delta(|w1><w2| - |w2><w1|) in which case, is my matrix correct? I still can't manage to get linearly independent eigenvectors... Also your explanation made quite a lot of sense to me...
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    Trying to find the eigenvectors of a hamiltonian operator

    Homework Statement I am given the Hamiltonia operator of a system in two-dimensional Hilbert space: H = i\Delta(|w1><w2| + |w2><w1|) and am asked to find the corresponding eigenstates. I wrote this operator as a matrix, where H11 = 0, H22 = 0, and H12= i\Delta and H21= -i\Delta...
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    Falling chain center of mass dynamics

    Not sure if this is in the right subforum but: A chain of uniform mass density, length b, and mass M hangs in a loop from the ceiling (both its ends are adjacent to each other) At time t = 0, one end, end B is released. Find the tension in the chain at point A after end B has fallen a distance...
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    Integral Using Residue Theorem?

    OOOh, I see, I used the singularities and I get pi/sqrt2 which I think is right. Thank you guys so much. I actually have another related question now though. First of all, why does sqrt(i) not work when I use it as z? Also, I'm now trying to do: integral (0 to infinity) of sin(x^2)...
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    Integral Using Residue Theorem?

    Homework Statement the integral of 1/(1+x^4) from -infinity to +infinity Homework Equations Residue theorem. The Attempt at a Solution 1/(1+z^4) so z^4 = -1 I know I should be using the residues at z = -sqrt(i) and z= i*sqrt(i) I am getting a complex number as an...
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    How to Show the General Solution to the Poisson Equation?

    Homework Statement Given that \nabla2 1/r = -4\pi\delta3(r) show that the solution to the Poisson equation \nabla2\Phi = -(\rho(r)/\epsilon) can be written: \Phi(r) = (1/4\pi\epsilon) \int d3r' (\rho(r') / |r - r'|) Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I know...
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    Finding the distance between a point and a level curve

    ah nvm i realized its just optimizing a function with another contraining function.. i think... so i could use lagrange multipliers thanks for your help
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    Finding the distance between a point and a level curve

    Homework Statement Find the point on the curve defined by 5/8 x^2 - 3/4 xy + 5/8 y^2 = 1 That is closest to the point (1,-1) Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I started by finding the gradient vector. < (5/4x - 3/4 y) , (5/4y - 3/4x) > I could not figure...
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    If earth's poles are reversed suddenly

    Err, oh well whatever, I just did flux = B x area of annular ring change in flux = 2 times above And about the point of the problem, perhaps it would help to know that there is a final part that i didn't post because I thought I understood how to do it if I did the above correctly: it asks: ...
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    If earth's poles are reversed suddenly

    I looked up "low Earth orbit" and that's supposed to be the locus of points from the surface up to about 6.5x10^6. For my area, I used the area between the larger circle and the smaller, surface one. I used a uniform magnetic field though. I just got back from spring break though and I can't...
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    If earth's poles are reversed suddenly

    Homework Statement Consider the Earth’s magnetic field as that of a dipole with the magnetic field around the equator having magnitude 30 µT. The radius of the Earth is 6.37 106 m. a. Calculate the magnetic flux φB in low Earth orbit (r=6.5x10^6 m) at the equator, in units of Tm2. b...
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