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Category: the true
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Childhood home of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) : Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu | birthplace of 21st century physics | [ see also this in Quanta on the Umbral Moonshine Conjecture ]
Palden Yonten Thaye Lodro Chokyi Gyaltsen
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Dear Sangha Members and Friends of the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center,
I have the great privilege to share with you one of the most beautiful announcements that I can make: the longtime wishes and prayers of all the PBC members and devoted disciples of Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche have been answered.
Recently, His Eminence Terton Namkha Drimed Rinpoche discovered the reincarnation of Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche on the eighth day of this month, just two days ago. He was given the name Palden Yonten Thaye Lodro Chokyi Gyaltsen!
At Padma Samye Ling, the North American Monastery of PBC, we enjoyed a great celebration for the 10th Day of Guru Rinpoche, and all the gathered Sangha rejoiced in this announcement with tremendous joy and excitement.
Now that we have discovered the reincarnation of Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, H.E. Terton Namkha Drimed Rinpoche is requesting that everyone recite many Dusum Sangye prayers of Guru Padmasambhava. This is my wish as well. We pray for the continued success of all the Dharma activities of Khenchen Yangsi Rinpoche, that there are no obstacles and everything unfolds very smoothly, for the fulfillment of all of his wishes, and that he will benefit the Teachings and all sentient beings for aeons.
Yours in the Dharma,
Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal
Padma Samye Ling
10th Day of Guru Rinpoche
April 16, 2016
Thanu Padmanabhan
Thanu Padmanabhan, of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India : very nice – a reformulation of the geometry of GR space time using thermodynamics.
via George Musser
George Musser’s book Spooky Action at a Distance is both erudite and a highly interesting and compelling historical birds eye view of non-locality.
Ramanujan manuscript
Ramanujan’s manuscript. The representations of 1729 as the sum of two cubes appear in the bottom right corner. The equation expressing the near counter examples to Fermat’s last theorem appears further up: α3 + β3 = γ3 + (-1)n. Image courtesy Trinity College library.
see article
vacuum properties of QCD
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The animations above illustrate the typical four-dimensional structure of gluon-field configurations averaged over in describing the vacuum properties of QCD [ Quantum Chromodynamics ]. The volume of the box is 2.4 by 2.4 by 3.6 fm, big enough to hold a couple of protons. Contrary to the concept of an empty vacuum, QCD induces chromo-electric and chromo-magnetic fields throughout space-time in its lowest energy state. After a few sweeps of smoothing the gluon field (50 sweeps of APE smearing), a lumpy structure reminiscent of a lava lamp is revealed. This is the QCD Lava Lamp. The action density (left) and the topological charge density (right) are displayed. The former is similar to an energy density while the latter is a measure of the winding of the gluon field lines in the QCD vacuum.
The animation at left was featured in Prof. Frank Wilczek’s 2004 Nobel Prize Lecture.
Visualizations : Centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter (CSSM) and Department of Physics, University of Adelaide, 5005 Australia | link
Mars – Curiosity Mastcam view 2015-05-10
Ramanujan’s mock theta functions – letter to Hardy 1920
Srinivasa Ramanujan’s final letter to G. H. Hardy in 1920, explaining his discovery of what he called “mock theta” functions [ image : Ken Ono ].
see also Quanta magazine article on Umbral Moonshine Conjecture
physics late 2014
Recent interviews with 5 physicists that give an undoubtedly incomplete [ but terrific nonetheless ] snapshot of where physics is late 2014.
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grasping the essence
Doctor Lloyd Bannerman [ 1915 – 2014 ]. He was the first to teach me what it meant to “grasp the essence” or what is known in the Japanese Zen tradition as Kenshō [ (見性) Ken meaning “seeing” and shō meaning “nature or essence”].
dimensionless constants
| Parameter | Meaning | Measured Value |
| g θW gs |
Weak coupling constant at mZ Weinberg angle Strong coupling constant at mZ |
0.6520 ± 0.0001 0.48290 ± 0.00005 1.221 ± 0.022 |
| μ2 λ |
Quadratic Higgs coefficient Quartic Higgs coefficient |
~ −10−33 ~ 1 ? |
| Ge Gμ Gτ |
Electron Yukawa coupling Muon Yukawa coupling Tauon Yukawa coupling |
2.94 × 10−6 0.000607 0.0102156233 |
| Gu Gd Gc Gs Gt Gb |
Up quark Yukawa coupling Down quark Yukawa coupling Charm quark Yukawa coupling Strange quark Yukawa coupling Top quark Yukawa coupling Bottom quark Yukawa coupling |
0.000016 ± 0.000007 0.00003 ± 0.00002 0.0072 ± 0.0006 0.0006 ± 0.0002 1.002 ± 0.029 0.026 ± 0.003 |
| sin θ12 sin θ23 sin θ13 δ13 |
Quark CKM matrix angle Quark CKM matrix angle Quark CKM matrix angle Quark CKM matrix phase |
0.2243 ± 0.0016 0.0413 ± 0.0015 0.0037 ± 0.0005 1.05 ± 0.24 |
| θqcd | CP – violating QCD vacuum phase | < 10−9 |
| Gνe Gνμ Gντ |
Electron neutrino Yukawa coupling Muon neutrino Yukawa coupling Tau neutrino Yukawa coupling |
< 1.7 × 10−11 < 1.1 × 10−6 < 0.10 |
| sin θ′12 sin 2θ′23 sin θ′13 δ′13 |
Neutrino MNS matrix angle Neutrino MNS matrix angle Neutrino MNS matrix angle Neutrino MNS matrix phase |
0.55 ± 0.06 ≥ 0.94 ≤ 0.22 ? |
| ρΛ ξb ξc ξν Q ns |
Dark energy density Baryon mass per photon ρb / nγ Cold dark matter mass per photon ρc / nγ Neutrino mass per photon ρν / nγ = 3⁄11 Σ mνi Scalar fluctuation amplitude δH on horizon Scalar spectral index |
(1.25 ± 0.25) × 10−123 (0.50 ± 0.03) × 10−28 (2.5 ± 0.2) × 10−28 < 0.9 × 10−28 (2.0 ± 0.2) × 10−5 0.98 ± 0.02 |
from Dimensionless constants, cosmology and other dark matters : Max Tegmark, Anthony Aguirre, Martin J. Rees & Frank Wilczek
“Every fundamental property of nature ever measured can be computed from the 32 numbers in this table – at least in principle.” Max Tegmark in Our Mathematical Universe
Now Broadcasting in Planck Definition : Craig J. Hogan
If reality has finite information content, space has finite fidelity. The quantum wave function that encodes spatial relationships maybe limited to information that can be transmitted in a “Planck broadcast”, with a bandwidth given by the inverse of the Planck time, about 2×1043 bits per second. Such a quantum system can resemble classical space-time on large scales, but locality emerges only gradually and imperfectly. Massive bodies are never perfectly at rest, but very slightly and slowly fluctuate in transverse position, with aspectrum of variation given by the Planck time. This distinctive new kind of noise associated with quantum geometry would not have been noticed up to now, but may be detectable in a new kind of experiment.
chasing ice
Rather incredible images of glacial calving – this clip was running today at an exhibition at the Louisiana Museum just outside of Copenhagen in Denmark.
Pondicherry interpretation
An overview of the Pondicherry interpretation of quantum mechanics is presented.
This interpretation proceeds from the recognition that the fundamental theoretical
framework of physics is a probability algorithm, which serves to describe an
objective fuzziness (the literal meaning of Heisenberg?s term ?Unschärfe,? usually
mistranslated as ?uncertainty?) by assigning objective probabilities to the possible
outcomes of unperformed measurements. Although it rejects attempts to construe
quantum states as evolving ontological states, it arrives at an objective description
of the quantum world that owes nothing to observers or the goings-on in physics
laboratories. In fact, unless such attempts are rejected, quantum theory?s true
ontological implications cannot be seen. Among these are the radically relational
nature of space, the numerical identity of the corresponding relata, the incomplete
spatiotemporal differentiation of the physical world, and the consequent top-down
structure of reality, which defies attempts to model it from the bottom up, whether
on the basis of an intrinsically differentiated spacetime manifold or out of a multitude
of individual building blocks.
full arXiv text : The Pondicherry interpretation of quantum mechanics: An overview
U. Mohrhoff
Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education
Pondicherry 605002 India
most excellent – thank you
