A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may either be scientific or other than scientific (or scientific to less extent). Depending on the context, the results might, for example, include generalized explanations of how nature works. The word has its roots in ancient Greek, but in modern use it has taken on several related meanings.
In modern science, the term "theory" refers to scientific theories, a well-confirmed type of explanation of nature, made in a way consistent with scientific method, and fulfilling the criteria required by modern science. Such theories are described in such a way that scientific tests should be able to provide empirical support for it, or empirical contradiction ("falsify") of it. Scientific theories are the most reliable, rigorous, and comprehensive form of scientific knowledge, in contrast to more common uses of the word "theory" that imply that something is unproven or speculative (which in formal terms is better characterized by the word hypothesis). Scientific theories are distinguished from hypotheses, which are individual empirically testable conjectures, and from scientific laws, which are descriptive accounts of the way nature behaves under certain conditions.
Theories guide the enterprise of finding facts rather than of reaching goals, and are neutral concerning alternatives among values. A theory can be a body of knowledge, which may or may not be associated with particular explanatory models. To theorize is to develop this body of knowledge.The word theory or "in theory" is sometimes used erroneously by people to explain something which they individually did not experience or test before. In those instances, semantically, it is being substituted for another concept, a hypothesis. Instead of using the word "hypothetically", it is replaced by a phrase: "in theory". In some instances the theory's credibility could be contested by calling it "just a theory" (implying that the idea has not even been tested). Hence, that word "theory" is very often contrasted to "practice" (from Greek praxis, πρᾶξις) a Greek term for doing, which is opposed to theory. A "classical example" of the distinction between "theoretical" and "practical" uses the discipline of medicine: medical theory involves trying to understand the causes and nature of health and sickness, while the practical side of medicine is trying to make people healthy. These two things are related but can be independent, because it is possible to research health and sickness without curing specific patients, and it is possible to cure a patient without knowing how the cure worked.
In the formulation of Euler-Bernoulli Beam Theory, there are two degrees of freedom at a point, w and dw/dx. Typically, the finite element model of this theory uses cubic polynomial for interpolation of $w$ using a two noded element as given in Chapter 5 of this book [1]. This element is a...
I have been following [this video lecture][1] on how to find gauge invariance when studying the perturbation of the metric.
Something is unclear when we try to find fake vs. real perturbation of the metric.
We use an arbitrary small vector field to have the effect of a chart transition map or...
Just when I thought there couldn't be any more quantum interpretations (I think @Demystifier listed 9 in his recent thread)... :smile:
Lee Smolin and several others (Cohen, Cortês, Elitzur) have published a pair of related papers discussing dBB/Bohmian Mechanics and its ability to explain the...
In QED the maths suggests that a photon takes all possible paths, and all but one of the paths cancel out leaving the path we observe.
Using this as an analogy:-
The maths of quantum mechanics suggests a vast number of possible universes concurrent with our universe.
Perhaps all these...
I have been reading up on the kinetic theory of gases, and I'm unsure whether I have correctly understood why particle velocities become correlated after colliding. Is it because during the collision they exchange momentum and thus their velocities (and hence trajectories) are altered in a...
I have read about LISA Pathfinder. Can a satellite with gravitational test instruments, such as a torsional pendulum, test the MOND theory at L1 and L2?
Maybe both MOND and dark matter are needed to explain velocities of some remote stars and the formation of large galactic structures.
Can anyone please suggest which books or articles can be taken which would start from a preliminary one for a newcomer like me for understanding the Brans-Dicke theory .
Thanks.
Yesterday I have seen the excellent documentary "The Swedish theory of love". (Yes, you can find the full documentary on YouTube, and no, it's not about sex!) Perhaps the most interesting part in the documentary is this graph.
And guess which country is right in the middle? Croatia! If that is...
Is there a historical example of a theory that physicists all over the world pursued and developed in a concerted and organized research for more than 20 years without results, but then turned out to be correct?
I get frequently as an answer the heliocentric vs. geocentric model, it took...
Hello everyone,
I am currently finishing my Masters in Theoretical Physics and looking forward to continue in a PhD.
I always thought I would love String Theory, and now that i am actually doing it I see that my feeling was correct. I do not know why but trying to understand its concepts...
Hi.
I'd like to ask what are the differences between Particle Physics, Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model. I see these names of physics courses but I want to confirm if I understand the difference.
My understanding is that when students learn particle physics in their undergraduate...
Earlier in the forum Urs Schreiber discussed criticism of KKLT, and claims that string theory does not allow de Sitter vacua
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/no-metastable-type-iib-de-sitter-vacua.950271/
The following recent claims to address these concerns, and claims KKLT allows de...
I've been looking at another Penrose's theory/model called twistor theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twistor_theory) that seems very interesting. From what I've read it seems to me that literally everything can be represented by twistors (or, rather, variations of twist theory).
The only...
Hello everyone,Upon my comment on the insight "Applying for Physics Graduate School - Comments", Mr. Bill (bhobba) suggested that I need to write an individual post regarding my inquiry.
I am looking for physics graduate programs (PhD). My senior project/thesis was on classical field theory and...
Dear Everyone,
Here is the question:
"Prove that if $k$ divides the integers $a$ and $b$, then $k$ divides $as+bt$ for every pair of integers $s$ and $t$ for every pair of integers."
The attempted work:
Suppose $k$ divides $a$ and $k$ divides $b$, where $a,b\in\mathbb{Z}$. Then, $a=kt$ and...
in the tv show "The Big Bang Theory", Sheldon wrote a book called "A proof the algebraic topology can never have a non self-contradictory set of abelian groups". Is this just a random set of words that is meant to sound smart but in reality means nothing or is it accurate? If it is, what does it...
When deriving the kinetic theory of gases, we take the change in momentum of a particle as it hits one side of a box and divide it by the time over which the collision takes place. The time is derived by taking the total distance the particle traveled in the box (i.e. from one end, off the side...
Hi, I'm reading Lamarsh's book "Introduction to nuclear reactor theory" and in chapter two there is a brief description of neutron scattering theory. I have a few questions about it.
1) In the book the author says that it is easier to analyze the interaction process in the center of mass frame...
Hey all
I previously asked about some math structure fulfilling some requirements and didn't get much out of it ( Graph or lattice topology discretization ). It was a vague question, granted.
Anyway, I seem to have stumbled upon something interesting called geometric group theory. It looks...
Hi all,
I have stumbled upon Artin's book "Algebra" and was wondering if I could use it to do some self-study on Group Theory.
Some background: I am a physics undergraduate who has some competence in elementary logic, proofs and linear algebra. It seemed to me that ideas related to Group...
I've heard in a general way that string theory can describe the properties of the fundamental particles through standing waves or resonances of strings. Is this in fact the case, and if so, can someone provide a link to the relevant research papers?
Homework Statement
Show that the force resisting change of the minimum distance h between the surfaces of two rigid spheres of radii a and b which are nearly touching is:
$$6\pi\frac{\mu}{h({a^{-1} + b^{-1}})^2}\frac{dh}{dt}$$
provided
$$\frac{\rho h}{\mu}\frac{dh}{dt}$$
Homework Equations...
I'm interested in pursuing graduate studies in Relativistic Quantum Information (looking into universities affiliated with the ISRQI) as well as other fields related to quantum information theory (Quantum Computing - QKD protocols, Quantum Channels). I think it would be cool to apply QIP to...
I recently started reading Feynmans book QED. There are a couple of questions I have regarding his theory on the percentage of light that is reflected of two surfaces of glass.
My question is as follows,
A piece of glass in fact has four surfaces. The front of the glass the back side of...
It is my understanding that in both Classical Field Theory and QFT the Lagrangian must be Lorentz invariant in order for the fields to be considered relativistic. Buy what about the field itself (φ or ψ)? As complex-valued functions of space and time do they also have to be Lorentz invariant...
The theory regarding two persons experiencing different amounts of time dilation due to the two persons being influenced by different amounts of gravity states that while one person stays on Earth under its gravity and another person travels through space under less influence of gravity (less...
Homework Statement
[Answer is V = 25m/s, however, how do I get that answer? Thank you!] A police cruiser sets up a novel radar speed trap, consisting of two transmitting antennas at the edge of a main north-south road. One antenna is 2.0 m [W] of the other. The antennas, essentially point...
This is the provocative question posed by Sabine Hossenfelder in her article in Forbes, covering the ongoing debate of inflation critics like Paul Steinhardt (once one of the theory founders) and scientists who develop models of inflation. Link to her article...
https://imgur.com/a/oSioYel
I am trying to understand this proof, but am tripped up on the part that says "Consider the action of ##G## on ##\operatorname{Syl}_2(G)## by conjugation." My question is, how is this a well-defined action if ##\operatorname{Syl}_2(G)## is not normal? Isn't this...
Hello,
I am contacting you because I would like to know if there is a way to simulate quantum loop theory. Indeed, the S-Knots are much more complex objects than graphs because between the points there is a curve that can be knotted. S-Knots are graph embeddings in 3D and I do not see how such...
Homework Statement
Let ##G## be a group. Let ##H \triangleleft G## and ##K \leq G## such that ##H\subseteq K##.
a) Show that ##K\triangleleft G## iff ##K/H \triangleleft G/H##
b) Suppose that ##K/H \triangleleft G/H##. Show that ##(G/H)/(K/H) \simeq G/K##
Homework Equations
The three...
Just looking for extra critique here: I'm a 2nd year math and physics student at a good uni in Canada. My average is in the 70s (B range, hoping to bring up to an 80/A- by the end of second year). The good thing is that Canadian unis will only look at my most recent 4 semesters or so (though I'd...
Hi folks. I am trying to reconcile the additive colour theory of light with more traditional grade school colour mixing.
For example, we all know that blue paint plus yellow paint makes green paint. How do we explain this from the perspective of light? So the yellow paint appears yellow because...
Hi PF,
im finishing my bachelor soon and I would really like to do my thesis in De Broglie-Bohm theory.
I know its a controversial topic but i refuse to accept the statistical crazyness of qm(i passed qm already).
Im not a super good student so I´m asking you for some books on this theory, or...
Homework Statement
I'm having issues understanding a mistake that I'm making, any assistance is appreciated! I know a counterexample but my attempt at proving the proposition is what's troubling me.
Prove or disprove
$$P(A \cup B) \subseteq P(A) \cup P(B) $$
Homework EquationsThe Attempt at...
Hello to everyone that's reading this. :)
1. Homework Statement
(Theory of Computation) proof problem about proving that L = L(A) by proving that L ⊆ L(A) and that L(A) ⊆ L:
https://www.docdroid.net/du7lLvh/theproblemanditssolution.pdf
Homework Equations
• Mutual simple induction
• Formal...
I teach group theory for physicists, and I like to teach it following some papers. In general my students work with condensed matter, so I discuss group theory following these papers:
[1] Group Theory and Normal Modes, American Journal of Physics 36, 529 (1968)
[2] Nonsymmorphic Symmetries and...
This is one of the problems I'm currently working on but understanding how to deduce the Feynman rules for this case would give me a better idea on how to do it for more general cases besides ##\phi^4## theory (which is the example commonly covered in books like Peskin and Greiner).
1. Homework...
I am looking for good references / clarifications on the subject.
First of all, my question is concerned only with mathematical formulation of something that sort of plays the role of the Feynman path integral of the "standard" QFT. It is not concerned with the physical or philosophical...
Hi, I’m interested in self studying so that I can learn / understand integrated information theory about counciousness. I was wondering if anyone could help me identify what courses (I’m looking at using MIT’s opencourseware to study although just types of math is all that is needed) I would...
I do have a fair amount of visual/geometric understanding of groups, but when I start solving problems I always wind up relying on my algebraic intuition, i.e. experience with forms of symbolic expression that arise from theorems, definitions, and brute symbolic manipulation. I even came up with...
Problem:
Let $E$ have finite outer measure. Show that $E$ is measurable if and only if there is a $F_\sigma$ set $F \subset E$ with $m^*\left(F\right)=m^*\left(E\right)$.
Proof:
"$\leftarrow$"
To Show: $E=K\cup N$ where $K$ is $F_\sigma$ and $m^*(N)=m(N)=0$.
By assumption, $\exists F$, and...
I studied the work of a nano generator in quantu mechanics. The generator uses the principle of triboelectrics. How does this work in quantum field theory?
I think that the electron (wave packet in the field) is in the atom in a small volume because the nucleus inhibits the propagation of the...
I have a Theory providing an alternative behavior of gravity and an explanation for the perception of dark matter. The math works at least in the large scale (not quantum). How do I publish this for the physics world to see? I want my Nobel Prize (joking). Legitimate answers would be highly...