Recent content by quarky2001

  1. Q

    Explaining Band theory and Momentum Space to laymen?

    I didn't put this in the Education forum because I feel the level is probably too high. I have a physics degree and an education degree, but due to my inability to tolerate students who simply don't care about learning, I became an electrician instead. My colleagues and I were having a...
  2. Q

    Retarding force of eddy currents in a disc

    Well, think of what happens when there is no current in the disc, and it starts spinning. The moving electrons spinning with the disk see a changing magnetic field, and the corresponding Lorentz force causes them to drift in the disk with some current density \vec{J} . These electrons...
  3. Q

    Why Is dz/dt Negative in Cosmology?

    If I recall correctly, that's because the model you're using is actually decelerating, which means that the redshift will be decreasing with time, making \frac{dz}{dt} negative.
  4. Q

    How Do You Calculate Faraday Rotation in Magnetized Plasma?

    I'm looking to find an expression for the Faraday rotation of a wave in a magnetized plasma, propagating parallel to a magnetic field. It's more math help than physics help I need here though. I know that I'll have to start with the dispersion relations for a right and left circularly polarized...
  5. Q

    Vector calculus identities - is this right?

    I'm manipulating an equation, and I think I am correct in doing this, but not sure. Could someone tell me if the equality I've written below is true? [\nabla\cdot [\rho\vec{v}\vec{v}] ]\cdot\vec{v} = \nabla\cdot[\frac{1}{2}\rho v^2 \vec{v}] (where \rho is dependent on position) *NOTE* that...
  6. Q

    A fairly easy vector calculus identity question?

    Actually, I finally did manage to rewrite it. (although I'm not familiar with Einstein's tensor notation) Assuming my math is correct, the following equality should hold: \vec{v}\cdot (\vec{v}\cdot\nabla )\vec{v} = \frac{1}{2}(\vec{v}\cdot\nabla )v^2
  7. Q

    A fairly easy vector calculus identity question?

    Sorry - I'm not sure what you mean by that subscript notation. I know v dotted with nabla is an operator on the v on the far right, and I know the result will be a scalar. I just don't know how I could re-write that expression in a simpler fashion.
  8. Q

    A fairly easy vector calculus identity question?

    I'm working on simplifying a big physical expression (I don't like the Navier-Stokes equations at all anymore), and I'm curious how to simplify the following term: \vec{v}\cdot (\vec{v}\cdot\nabla )\vec{v} where v is a fluid velocity - i.e. definitely spatially varying. I'm just not sure...
  9. Q

    Why would two close stars have similar metallicity, but different color?

    Thanks for the reply - I asked the professor today. He just worded the question funny. By "nearby", he meant that the globular cluster's stars were redder than other stars of similar metallicity "nearby" the solar system, not nearby other stars in the globular cluster!
  10. Q

    Why would two close stars have similar metallicity, but different color?

    This is the exact question: Stars in a globular cluster are observed to be one magnitude redder (in terms of B-V color, so the color excess E_(B-V) = 1, and extinction in the V band is 3.1) than other nearby stars having similar metallicity. What causes this? I'm aware of why two stars...
  11. Q

    Solid angles and particle velocities

    This should be a simple question, but I haven't found a clear explanation anywhere yet. Suppose that there are a bunch of particles in a gas, with their velocities "uniformly distributed over solid angles", and I want to find out what fraction of particles are traveling with velocities in a...
  12. Q

    Derivative of a vector expression?

    Whoops, forgot that! Thanks for checking it though. It's a shame it doesn't simplify more, but so long as it's correct I'm fine with it.
  13. Q

    Derivative of a vector expression?

    I'm trying to find the time derivative of the following function, where E is a constant, spatially uniform vector field, and B is as well, but B varies with time. \frac{d}{dt}\left(\frac{\vec{E}\times\vec{B}}{B^2}\right) Remembering that B is time dependent and E is not, I've calculated the...
  14. Q

    Plasma physics - single particle in time-varying B-field

    I think I might have come up with a solution, but I'm a bit unsure, as it came about without as much math as I thought it would take. Given the constant E-field, and the time varying B-field, we know there will be an E-cross-B drift term in the new drift velocity. The other part I think I...
  15. Q

    Total luminosity of a galactic disk

    This is basically problem 2.8 from Sparke & Gallagher "Galaxies in the universe". There's only one area I'm having trouble with. I've solved the surface density for stars in the galactic disk (# stars per unit area) as \Sigma(R)=2\exp(\frac{-R}{h_R})h_R Now, with L_0 being the...
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