Category: Theoretical Physics
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What is Dark Matter?
The largest contribution to the mass of the universe is believed to come from dark matter (i.e. matter that we can’t see). This dark matter is inferred to exist from studies of the motion of outlying stars, orbiting galaxies, the motion of galaxy clusters and from images formed by gravitational lenses (composed of clusters of…
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The Limitations of Classical Physics
Light waves and other forms of electromagnetic waves travel through free space at the speed c = 3.0 x 108 m/s. The speed of light sets an upper limit for the speeds of particles, waves and the transmission of information. In our everyday experiences, we mostly deal with objects that move at speeds much less…
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Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
Einstein special theory of relativity is based on two assumptions: The first proposition asserts that all the laws of physics, those dealing with electricity and magnetism, optics, mechanics, thermodynamics, etc. will have the same mathematical form or be covariant in all coordinate frames moving with constant velocity relative to one another. This postulate is a…
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Yukawa Meson Theory of Nuclear Forces
In 1935 Yukawa proposed in his paper that there exist a meson field, that is, a field that is different from the electromagnetic field, whose quanta, the mesons have a finite mass, which is coupled to protons and neutrons in a manner analogous to the coupling of photons to charged particles. The exchange of these…