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’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

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

 
 
link to JPL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Recent interviews with 5 physicists that give an undoubtedly incomplete [ but terrific nonetheless ] snapshot of where physics is late 2014.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View from Kastelli hilltop [ Odysseus’ Palace ] towards the peninsula that Homer calls Asteris.
On the present day island of Cephalonia.

from : Odysseus Unbound – The Search for Homer’s Ithaca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of Atheras Bay. Putative location of the Cave of the Nymphs.

On the Cave of the Nymphs (Antr.), late third or early fourth century CE. It is one of the few
extant works of the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry and is a literary interpretation of eleven
lines from the Odyssey (13.102-12).

There is a leafy olive at its head,
And nearby a delightful misty cave,
Sacred to the nymphs who have the name of Naiads.
Inside are mixing-bowls and double-handled
Jars made of stone, and here the bees store honey.
Inside are long stone looms, at which the nymphs
Weave sea-blue webs, a wondrous sight, and streams
Of ever-flowing water. It has two doors,
One to the north, by which men may descend,
The other to the south, for gods. This way
Men enter not: it is the immortals path. 13.102-12

(…ἄντρον,) ὃ διὰ τῶν ἐπῶν τούτων διαγράφει λέγων·
αὐτὰρ ἐπὶ κρατὸς λιµένος τανύφυλλος ἐλαίη,
ἀγχόθι δ? αὐτῆς ἄντρον ἐπήρατον ἠεροειδές,
ἱρὸν νυµφάων αἳ νηιάδες καλέονται.
ἐν τῷ κρητῆρές τε καὶ ἀµφιφορῆες ἔασι
λάινοι· ἔνθα δ? ἔπειτα τιθαιβώσσουσι µέλισσαι.
ἐν δ? ἱστοὶ λίθεοι περιµήκεες, ἔνθα τε νύµφαι
φάρε? ὑφαίνουσιν ἁλιπόρφυρα, θαῦµα ἰδέσθαι·
ἐν δ? ὕδατ? ἀενάοντα. δύω δέ τέ οἱ θύραι εἰσίν,
αἱ µὲν πρὸς βορέαο καταβαταὶ ἀνθρώποισιν,
αἱ δ? αὖ πρὸς νότου εἰσὶ θεώτεραι· οὐδέ τι κείνῃ
ἄνδρες ἐσέρχονται, ἀλλ? ἀθανάτων ὁδός ἐστιν. Antr. 55.1.2-13.

(…the cave) ?At the head of the harbor is an olive tree with long-pointed leaves,
and near it a lovely and dark cave,
which is sacred to the nymphs called naiads.
Within are kraters and amphoras
of stone, where bees store up honey.
Tall stone looms stand inside as well, and there nymphs
weave sea-purple cloth?a wonder to see.
Within this cave water is ever-flowing. There are two gates,
one toward the north which leads downward for men,
and another toward the south which is divine.
Men do not enter by the latter way, rather it is a path for immortals.? Odyessy(13.102-12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2006 April, Cassini captured Saturn’s A and F rings stretching in front of cloud-shrouded Titan. Near the rings and appearing just above Titan was Epimetheus, a moon which orbits just outside the F ring. The dark space in the A ring is called the Encke Gap, although several thin knotted ringlets and even the small moon Pan orbit there.

Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA