Science Scientific theories that you love

[Skorpio]

What blows your mind every time you think about it?

There are some things that bring me joy when I bring them to mind, and I'm sure there are loads that would do if only I knew about them, so I'd love for you to tell me about yours.

I have a few but for an example I will suggest Landauer's principle - it is kind of obscure and hasn't caused any groundbreaking discoveries. Roughly, it states that irreversible computational operations cause an increase in the entropy of the system doing the computation.

The reason this blows my mind is because it suggests a fundamental link between something apparently completely abstract, i.e. information theory, with something incredibly concrete, thermodynamics. I feel like this speaks to something deep about the nature of the universe. What, I do not know! Or, it could just be plain wrong, we could get experimental results tomorrow that disprove it.

I like that a lot. There are aspects of it that seem intuitive (ie that there must be a lower limit for changing the state of a bit), but the tie to entropy is interesting to the point where it feels like deus ex machina to my non-physics studied mind. I guess I really don't think about energy costs as a sum of waste + essential energy to complete an action.

Not really a theory, but I find it amazing how enzymatic catalysis often boils down to changes in shape. Many chemical reactions undergo a transition state, which requires harsh conditions to occur (so these reactions are extremely unlikely to occur spontaneously). Often, catalytic enzymes (such as the classic biochem I example lysozyme) simply bind the substrate molecule in a conformation where formation of the transition state is favored. Lysozyme breaks down polysaccharides in bacterial cell walls (it is in tears to protect your eyes from bacteria), by causing them to bend, and stabilizing the transition state with charged residues. In this context, hydrolysis will readily happen, where in plain water, the bond that lysozyme breaks is incredibly stable.

 

[arrall]

The Alien Information Theory Book is fucking incredible.

 

[thegreenhand]

The Cayley-Hamilton theorem is crazy to me

It states than any square matrix satisfies its own characteristic equation.

When I first learned it, it felt like proof that it really is “turtles all the way down”

It’s a pretty fundamental result in linear algebra and I guess any actual mathematicians would take it for granted but to me it’s just so elegant

 

[Jabberwocky]

It states than any square matrix satisfies its own characteristic equation.

that is super cool!! i can't believe i didn't know that. i feel like i should have given all of quantum information is just linear algebra, but there all your operators are unitary which have much stronger invariance properties than arbitrary square matrices.

 

[thegreenhand]

that is super cool!! i can't believe i didn't know that. i feel like i should have given all of quantum information is just linear algebra, but there all your operators are unitary which have much stronger invariance properties than arbitrary square matrices.

I definitely couldn’t write a proof for it lol, but it’s simple enough to verify a few examples at least.

And yeah I never really got into Hilbert spaces and what not. Not for lack of interest, I just haven’t really encountered the topic in depth in any courses so far. I’m not even sure my school offers a functional analysis course for undergrads tbh

I do love linear algebra (and it’s endless applications) though. One of my professors said something along the lines of “all math humans truly understand can be reduced to linear algebra”. That really stuck with me.

 

[deficiT]

So this is where the nerds hang out, eh?

 

[ions]

hc/lambda = mc^2

It will lead to many discoveries in the future. When science pulls it's head out.

 

[AbbeyLee]

Well I just posted this in a different thread (about maths). I'm not a maths/science person -- my dad taught physics and mum English, and I definitely take after her. But this blows my mind in a good way

 

[nepalnt21]

i'm partial to biology class, myself... and especially zoology so my favorite has got to be the theory of evolution.

my favorite aspect would have to be endogenous retroviruses in our genetic code.

hc/lambda = mc^2

It will lead to many discoveries in the future. When science pulls it's head out.

can you elaborate on that formula? what is hc/ lambda?

also, how can a methodology have its head up its ass?

 

[hylite]

And I am serious. One of my Fav's !

 

[ions]

i'm partial to biology class, myself... and especially zoology so my favorite has got to be the theory of evolution.

my favorite aspect would have to be endogenous retroviruses in our genetic code.


can you elaborate on that formula? what is hc/ lambda?

also, how can a methodology have its head up its ass?

Energy is inversely proportional to the wavelength of light.

Science is inhibited and blocked from new advances beneficial to man.

 

[December Flower]

hc/lambda = mc^2

It will lead to many discoveries in the future. When science pulls it's head out.

E = hf and E = hc/λ are like the first things you learn when you deal with photons
I did that in school. I think it goes hv = hc/λ, where v is the frequency of electromagnetic radiation, and hv is also E ofc

that's been a thing for over a century, 1887: Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
or the French guy in the 1920s

@ topic:

The obvious answer is of course general relativity(Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie), you just can't stop counting the advances in science we have made since then, and because of it.
Absolutely insane that one man would theorise about all this, and he didn't even believe in black holes, but all his work to this day still proves to be right over and over and over.
Absolutely love it

Personally, my favourite tidbits of theoretical science are Chaos Theory, and the benefits it has given to particle physics, and if I may: the mathematical concept of Infinity,
not a theory per se, unless you want to strap multiverse theory onto it, but I just adore the concept of infinity itself, because it's impossible to ever wrap your mind around it

 

[ions]

E = hf and E = hc/λ are like the first things you learn when you deal with photons
I did that in school. I think it goes hv = hc/λ, where v is the frequency of electromagnetic radiation, and hv is also E ofc

that's been a thing for over a century, 1887: Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

@ topic:

The obvious answer is of course general relativity(Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie), you just can't stop counting the advances in science we have made since then, and because of it.
Absolutely insane that one man would theorise about all this, and he didn't even believe in black holes, but all his work to this day still proves to be right over and over and over.
Absolutely love it

Personally, my favourite tidbits of theoretical science are Chaos Theory, and the benefits it has given to particle physics, and if I may: the mathematical concept of Infinity,
not a theory per se, unless you want to strap multiverse theory onto it, but I just adore the concept of infinity itself, because it's impossible to ever wrap your mind around it

Yeah I learned it for spectroscopy electronic (uv/vis fluorescence) and nuclear (IR and NMR) that energy gap law

 

[December Flower]

ican you elaborate on that formula? what is hc/ lambda?

also, how can a methodology have its head up its ass?

planck constant times light speed divided by the wavelength of a wave

it's how you calculate photon energy, i.e the energy of a single photon

E² = (mc²)² + (pc)² (p = momentum of the photon)

since it's about photons: m = 0

E² = (pc)²
E = pc
also
E = hf or hv (Max Planck, 1890something: h = planck's constant, f = frequency of the photon, v = same thing)
which means
pc = hv
we know
p = h/λ (that's the french guy, brolie)
and that means
c(h/λ) = hv
h(c/λ) = hv
This means c/λ = v
Or, c = v λ

wait I went too far
what I can do with this, is take typical yellow light, and calculate that it has ~2.1 electron volt, given that i know or measure the frequency
or calculate the light given off stars, and other neat stuff

Yeah I learned it for spectroscopy electronic (uv/vis fluorescence) and nuclear (IR and NMR) that energy gap law

in school or for a job? nmr is pretty sweet

 

[ions]

planck constant times light speed divided by the wavelength of a wave

it's how you calculate photon energy, i.e the energy of a single photon

E² = (mc²)² + (pc)² (p = momentum of the photon)

since it's about photons: m = 0

E² = (pc)²
E = pc
also
E = hf or hv (Max Planck, 1890something: h = planck's constant, f = frequency of the photon, v = same thing)
which means
pc = hv
we know
p = h/λ (that's the french guy, brolie)
and that means
c(h/λ) = hv
h(c/λ) = hv
This means c/λ = v
Or, c = v λ

wait I went too far
what I can do with this, is take typical yellow light, and calculate that it has ~2.1 electron volt, given that i know or measure the frequency
or calculate the light given off stars, and other neat stuff



in school or for a job? nmr is pretty sweet

400-700nm. It’s visible.
No I learned in grad school. I’d like to publish some papers but my former PhD advisor kicked me out of his group. And Binghamton won’t reply to emails. So I’m thinking of calling a Pennsylvania attorney to get my diploma.

I’m clearly above the bar with a high standard. And that scares a lot of people.

NMR was my escape. I would sit down there on an old command based spectrometer signaling phosphorous. Such a sad world.

 

[hylite]

tHAT is very resonating.

 

[December Flower]

400-700nm. It’s visible.
No I learned in grad school. I’d like to publish some papers but my former PhD advisor kicked me out of his group. And Binghamton won’t reply to emails. So I’m thinking of calling a Pennsylvania attorney to get my diploma.

I’m clearly above the bar with a high standard. And that scares a lot of people.

NMR was my escape. I would sit down there on an old command based spectrometer signaling phosphorous. Such a sad world.

it's like 500 or so, give or take
grad school I think is a bit like the Gymnasium(highest educational route in Germany), that's actually pretty sweet, but lots of work.
Is it expensive or just very picky about whom they let in?

I wouldn't call a world made of infinitesimal matter-less matter sad, it's quite amazing to be honest.
more oft than not i'm freaking out about the beauty of the impossibility of life as we know it
have you ever done 1h nmr?

 

[ions]

Proton carbon 13 and 31P

 

[ions]

Pulse width calibration. And longitudinal relaxation on phosphorous.

 

[nznity]

What blows your mind every time you think about it?

There are some things that bring me joy when I bring them to mind, and I'm sure there are loads that would do if only I knew about them, so I'd love for you to tell me about yours.

I have a few but for an example I will suggest Landauer's principle - it is kind of obscure and hasn't caused any groundbreaking discoveries. Roughly, it states that irreversible computational operations cause an increase in the entropy of the system doing the computation.

The reason this blows my mind is because it suggests a fundamental link between something apparently completely abstract, i.e. information theory, with something incredibly concrete, thermodynamics. I feel like this speaks to something deep about the nature of the universe. What, I do not know! Or, it could just be plain wrong, we could get experimental results tomorrow that disprove it.

Murphy's law intrigues me then idk if Serendipity is considered scientific but it amuses me when u looking for silver and FIND GOLD instead without asking for it the uncertainty of life and it's surprises when u least expect it make me wanna carry on with lyf.
P S law of attraction vibrsting in the right frequency and manifest ur thoughts