So as another enticement to my join class (from anywhere), I think this story serves as a poignant counterpoint to the way science is often done today. Whereas AI boosters claim we can throw data at algorithms and get "all of physics" (Altman) to pop out, Einstein's work in this year shows the power of deductive reasoning from assumed principles.

What we get to see in these papers is the work of an extremely creative mind. He sought unities and symmetries. These led him to construct simple stories that explained seemingly disparate phenomena better than the prevailing notions that were over-optimizing on smaller parts of the picture. I think this has lessons for us today in this world of constantly seeking more and bigger.

Aside from the papers, I'm excited to riff on his philosophical writings with our second faculty, who is an expert in German philosophy of the period, particularly Arendt and the Frankfurt School. Lots to say about induction, deduction, thinking, experience, and materialism. This is going to be a special class, and I don't want people to miss out. Signups are open, class starts Wednesday. Hope to see some of you!

https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/items/courses/new-york/albert-einstein-revolutions-in-physics/

#Einstein #physics #philosophy #relativity #quantum #StatMech

So 1905 was a good year for Einstein. So good that the centenary year was declared the World Year of Physics—not just of Einstein! This year marks 120 years since his annus mirabilis—his miraculous year. The papers he published would revolutionize how physicists think about matter, light, space, time, energy, even reality itself. How did all this come about in a single year—from a random upstart that the physics establishment had largely rejected, no less? What was unique in his philosophical inclinations that allowed him to perform this feat? Why were his theoretical arguments convincing? And honestly, how much help did he get?

That's what my next class will be about. Just four weeks, online, starting on the 29th, with readings to discuss history, philosophy, scientific context, impact, and legacy. I'll also walk us through the papers themselves. I think there are lessons today around intellectual honesty, cults of personality, and scientism (uncritical belief in science). Young scientists especially may find inspiration in the clarity of Einstein's thinking. Sign ups are slow this time around, so if you can't join yourself, spreading the word will help me out. Thanks!

https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/items/courses/new-york/albert-einstein-revolutions-in-physics/

#Einstein #physics #philosophy #relativity #quantum #StatMech

#statmech

A question for the #CondMat and #StatMech communities here:

What are the possible routes for breaking integrability in a 1D chain of spinless fermions? Obviously one could do so with very strong interactions or perhaps longer-range hopping terms, but are these the only possible ways of breaking integrability in such a system?

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.04682 by Singh et. al. Authors show that ensembles of initial states in anisotropic integrable spin chains with quasi-long range correlations lead to superdiffusive spin transport with a tunable dynamical exponent. Theoretical prediction provided for dynamical critical exponent. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2306_04682

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.03142 by Leo Radzihovsky. Chapter to be published in World Scientific, as "50 years of the renormalization group", dedicated to the memory of Michael E. Fisher. Novel ordered states of “critical matter” reviewed which exhibit strongly fluctuating universal power-law orders, controlled by an infrared attractive, non-Gaussian fixed point. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2306_03142

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.03818 by Kassan-Ogly & Zarubin. Authors utilize a Kramers-Wannier transfer matrix method to study the frustration properties of the Ising model on a decorated triangular lattice with an arbitrary number of decorating spins on all lattice bonds. Entropy, heat capacity, and spontaneous magnetization found. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2304_03818

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.14140 by Iubini et. al. Authors study nonequilibrium steady states of a one-dimensional stochastic model. When steadily maintained out-of-equilibrium, coupled transport exhibited which is studied within linear response theory. Onsager coefficients satisfy an exact scaling relationship. #arXivsummary #CondMat #StatMech

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.09573 by Stahl et. al. Authors examine the hydrodynamics of systems with spontaneously broken multipolar symmetries using systematic effective field theory. In absence of any SSB, quartic subdiffusion found. With both charge and dipole symmetries broken, quadratically propagating (and quartically subdiffusing) mode found. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2303_09573

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.08835 by Ouvry & Polychronakos. Authors introduce inclusion statistics, where particles tend to coalesce more than ordinary bosons. Lowest space dimension in which particles condense in absence of potentials is d=2. Critical temperature increases with stronger inclusion. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2303_08835

Footage from the "2D gas simulator" I built in 2018 for a student research project. I really needed more energy to get higher frequency of collisions etc., but the velocity components came out pretty close to normal. #iteachphysics #physicsed #idealgases #statmech #physicslab

We thank Prof Elliott Lieb for taking a long journey from @princeton Princeton
University and giving us an insight into his research work. 🔎 He is a living example of that the age is only a number and you can still accomplish a lot at the age of 91. 🎉
Watch his lecture on YouTube 🔜 www.youtube.com/@ESIVienna

#MathematicalPhysics #Bosegas #condensedmatter #statisticalmechanics #statmech #functionalanalysis

@univienna

Watch the lectures of Sara Bonella, Ignacio Pagonabarraga and Georg Kaser now, if you missed them 👀
https://youtube.com/@ESIVienna/videos

#GlobalWarming #GlacierMelt #GreenhouseGas #GasEmissions #ClimateChange
#StatMech #statisticalmechanics #SoftMatter #softmatterphysics
@univienna @uniinnsbruck

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.03448 by Cipolloni & Kudler-Flam. Authors investigate the extent to which the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis holds for non-Hermitian many-body systems; fluctuations btw eigenstates is of equal order to average (indicating no thermalization). Shown in non-Hermitian Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and others. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2303_03448

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.02171 by Haldar et. al. Authors perform exact microscopic study of a complex CFT (CCFT) in the two-dimensional O(n) loop model. Real & imaginary parts of central charge & scaling dimensions extracted. CCFT interpreted as a liquid-gas critical point at the end of a first-order transition line. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2303_02171

Today, Sara Bonella's and Ignacio Pagonabarraga's lectures will take place at @ESIVienna. 🧐
We hope you're coming in person, but if you're unable to attend, you can catch up on our Youtube Channel ⏯️ https://youtube.com/@ESIVienna/playlists

#StatMech #statisticalmechanics #SoftMatter #softmatterphysics
@univienna

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.12820 by Fava et. al. Authors derive field theory descriptions for measurement-induced phase transitions in free fermion systems. Dynamics mapped to imaginary time evolution of an effective spin chain; phase diagram shows transitions out of the nontrivial phase. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2302_12820

The audience of the #SchrödingerLectures is a more wider range of mathematicians and physicists. 👨‍🔬 👩‍🔬 These kind of lectures are meant to inform non-specialists and students about the latest developments and results in a field of #maths or #physics.

Many #SchrödingerLectures are coming in March 2023, look at these ones for example! 🥳
Save the date and join! 😉 🔖

#StatMech #statisticalmechanics #SoftMatter #softmatterphysics
@univienna

Today's #arXivsummary: https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.13218 by Khasseh et. al. Authors introduce an alternative indicator for quantum many-body integrability and chaos based on the statistics of eigenstates by means of nearest-neighbor subsystem trace
distances. Indicator signals the expected quantum many-body integrability. #CondMat #StatMech #arXiv_2301_13218

David Tong's Physics lecture notes are a fantastic resource. They are extremely up to date, well written, freely available, and cover a large range of modern physics from 1st year undergraduate to graduate courses.

I'm posting this as I was shocked to find that my current 4th Year Physics project student's at Imperial hadn't heard about them!

http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/teaching.html

#Physics #CondensedMatter #QFT #StatMech