Phonetically accurately named theorems/results

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of phonetically accurate names of theorems and results in various scientific fields. Participants share examples and explore the implications of these names, touching on both mathematical and physical contexts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention the Poynting vector as a phonetically accurate theorem, alongside the Low energy theorem and the Schwarzschild radius.
  • One participant suggests the Heaviside step function, noting its lopsided appearance.
  • The term "Killing field" is discussed, with references to its implications in symmetry directions.
  • l'Hôpital's rule is highlighted as a helpful tool for students dealing with limits during exams.
  • A participant introduces Hausdorff Spaces, describing them as points being housed off from one another with open sets.
  • There is mention of a paper on incontinence by authors Splatt and Weedon, noted for its unusual title.
  • Some participants refer to "nominative determinism," discussing papers that have names that sound fitting but may not accurately represent their content.
  • One participant humorously reflects on a misleading term "Trench matrix," which turned out to be uninteresting.
  • The Turing Machine is brought up, with a play on words regarding its name suggesting exploration and backtracking.
  • Christoffel symbols are described negatively, with a pun made on the name.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share various examples of phonetically accurate names, but there is no consensus on a definitive list or criteria for what constitutes a phonetically accurate theorem. The discussion remains open-ended with multiple viewpoints presented.

Contextual Notes

Some examples provided may depend on subjective interpretations of phonetics and relevance, and the discussion includes both serious and humorous contributions.

greypilgrim
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Hi,

I stumbled upon this:

The Poynting vector falls into a wonderful class of phonetically accurate theorems/results. Others are the Low energy theorem (named after S.Y. Low) dealing with low-energy photons, and the Schwarzschild radius of a black hole (kind of like a shield).

Any more come to mind?
 
Computer science news on Phys.org
:biggrin: Good idea!
 
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The l'Hôpital's rule, always there to save the students from being stuck on a limit during exams.
 
WannabeNewton said:
Killing field: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_vector_field (kills symmetry directions).
Nice. I was thinking of that one (but for different reasons, such as I'm dying to read a straightforward and intuitive explanation of what it is). :smile:

fluidistic said:
The l'Hôpital's rule, always there to save the students from being stuck on a limit during exams.
That's my favorite! Stuck on a limit? L'Hôpital the poor sucker!
 
Hausdorff Spaces

Where points can be housed off from one another with open sets.
 
Ah yes, there's a whole lot of them if you search for "nominative determinism".

There's also a paper by Alpher, Bethe and Gamow, sometimes called the http://www.snolab.ca/public/JournalClub/michael1.pdf. Bethe did not contribute, but was added by Gamow just to make it sound right.

Similarly, Knox, Knox, Hoose, Zare published a paper on the Observation of the 0-fs pulse on April 1, 1990. Wayne Knox was the only one actually contributing to the (nonsensical, I guess?) paper.
 
  • #10
Sometimes you get nominative misleadingisms as well. Before the web, I once spent a lot of time trying to make sense of a paper that used the term "Trench matrix" for something. Eventually it turned out to be a very uninteresting reference to another paper about nothing in particular, published by somebody called Trench. In fact, Trench's paper was so uninteresting that the paper I was originally reading didn't even include the reference to it. :cry:

Actually, the web probably wouldn't have helped. I just googled "trench matrix" and got lots of links about long black coats... :confused:
 
  • #11
greypilgrim said:
ASimilarly, Knox, Knox, Hoose, Zare published a paper on the Observation of the 0-fs pulse on April 1, 1990. Wayne Knox was the only one actually contributing to the (nonsensical, I guess?) paper.

Makes me think of Cox-Zucker machine.

But we are getting off topic.
 
  • #12
Which makes me think of the Turing Machine, named after Alan Turing. The name Turing sounds like touring, having implications of going round and round (and sometimes even backtracking, maybe), exploring, discovering.
 
  • #13
Christoffel symbols are pretty awful...
 
  • #14
jbunniii said:
Christoffel symbols are pretty awful...
Christ Offal? :smile:
 

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