Eureka! Do you remember that pleasant feeling when a brilliant idea flashed into your head? Over 2000 years ago in ancient Greece, a physicist Archimedes was trying to solve a problem of physics. One day, while taking a bath, he suddenly got an inspiration, and discovered a breakthrough principle. He got so excited about this discovery that he leapt out the bathtub, ran through the streets without his clothes, and cried out, "Eureka!”: in English, “I’ve found it!”, the word to express our…
To facilitate an accurate description of the localized d and f electrons in the solids, the self interaction correction is introduced. Within the LSDA, the spurious self-interaction tends to underestimate their localization. In SIC-LDA formalism, the localized electrons see a potential (SIC potential) different from that of the delocalized ones for which the self-interaction vanishes and whose potential therefore reduces to that of the LSDA. It is known that self-interaction is important only…
Being known as “The Father of the Atomic Bomb” is a great accomplishment. To have this association as well as being known as “The Pope,” “The Prophet,” and “The Admiral” to his associates, an individual must be intelligent and have a background that allowed them to grow and prosper in physics (Latil 113). The man with this honor is Enrico Fermi and without him, who knows what would have happened in World War II. Enrico Fermi had multiple experiences and obstacles in his life, but all of the…
General relativity is fundamentally incompatible with quantum mechanics- they have been at odds with each other since its discovery in 1915- relativity breaks down at the subatomic level and vice versa. A conjecture by two physicists may finally reconcile relativity with quantum mechanics and put an end to the chain of inconsistencies began by Hawking’s information paradox. Albert Einstein first discussed the concept of quantum entanglement in a 1935 paper co-written with his colleagues Boris…
Pangea! It was the supercontinent that existed about 300 million years ago. According to Alfred Wegener’s theory, long before us humans existed all of the continents used to be one large landmass. Who is Alfred Wegener you might ask? Alfred Wegener was a German polar researcher, geophysicist, and meteorologist born in Berlin on November 1, 1880. I chose to research about Alfred Wegener’s life and his struggles because we are currently focusing on the continental drift theory in science class. He…
Introduction: Quantum physics, also known as quantum mechanics, is the branch of physics that uses quantum theory to predict and describe the properties of a physical system. While chemistry is the science of composition, properties, structures, and reactions of matter; it is also known as the ‘central science’. While reading the book Alice in Quantumland by Robert Gilmore, one is able to link the two together, causing a curiosity to learn more. It is amazing to see how the two correlate and…
Albert Einstein designed his own laws of nature. He changed the way we use to see light, gravity, and time. Most scientists in our day in age agree with what Albert Einstein has declared, but some scientists seemed to not understand what he was saying. Albert Einstein gave scientists the ability to know that atoms and molecules exist through Brownian motion. Albert was one who experimented the photoelectric effect in which he established that light has both a wave and a particle. Light particles…
Abstract Henry Cavendish was a man of extraordinary intelligence but had a crippling social anxiety condition that isolated him from most all human interaction. He was born into a family of English Dukes on both his father and mother’s side and later became one of the wealthiest people in England. He was well educated and attended the best English schools but did not hold any type of formal degree. After college, Henry began following his father’s scientific footsteps. Being a follower of…
Jeremy Hsu's article, “Scientists Create First Ever Trap for Rainbows” (2009), asserts that anyone can capture rainbows. Hsu makes this argument by explaining how scientists have manipulated lens and other materials, such as glass, varying in thickness, size, and optical coating, to capture a rainbow when a laser beam was shone through it. Hsu’s motive is to inform readers of this discovery, which involves a rainbow, an optical phenomenon that has amazed people for several generations, in order…
One of the most important scientific discoveries is that of the atom. The Atom is the smallest unit of matter. “Atoms are mostly empty space” (OI/ https://www.thoughtco.com/interesting-facts-about-atoms-603817). It makes up all the four elements. “There are over 100 different kinds of atoms ”(OI/https://www.thoughtco.com/interesting-facts-about-atoms-603817).Over time the theories about the atom have changed a lot, moving from simple to complex. Before 1900, scientists made several…