Playing Quantum Billards

Protons accelerated almost to the speed of light can collide similarly to billiard balls. However, since protons are quantum particles, from measuring such collisions we can learn unobvious things about the strong interaction. Credit: IFJ PAN




A study conducted by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Accelerator has gained insights into the properties of strong interactions between protons at ultra-high energies by exploring elastic scattering in proton-proton collisions. The research found discrepancies with pre-existing theoretical models, prompting a reconsideration of current understanding of these interactions.

The quantum nature of interactions between elementary particles allows drawing non-trivial conclusions even from processes as simple as elastic scattering. The ATLAS experiment at the LHC accelerator reports the measurement of fundamental properties of strong interactions between protons at ultra-high energies.

The physics of billiard ball collisions is taught from early school years. In a good approximation, these collisions are elastic, where both momentum and energy are conserved. The scattering angle depends on how central the collision was (this is often quantified by the impact parameter value – the distance between the centers of the balls in a plane perpendicular to the motion). In the case of a small impact parameter, which corresponds to a highly central collision, the scattering angles are large. As the impact parameter increases, the scattering angle decreases.

In particle physics, we also deal with elastic collisions, when two particles collide, maintaining their identities, and scatter a certain angle to their original direction of motion. Here, we also have a relationship between the collision parameter and the scattering angle. By measuring the scattering angles, we gain information about the spatial structure of the colliding particles and the properties of their interactions.    READ MORE...

Great Photos

This is what synchronous patterns of wave action looks like.



This is what an eight-ton Orca jumping 20 feet out of the water looks like.



This is what a bubble looks like mid-pop.



This is what Wiltshire, England looks like.



This is what the Seattle skyline looks like.



This is what a sunset looks like from above the clouds.



This is a volcano in Ethiopia that burns bright blue.



This is what lions look like in the rain.



This is what a tree farm looks like.



This is what a huge rhododendron tree looks like.



This is how massive Tokyo is. The world's most densely populated city.



This is a process called guttation. The plant is expelling water due to a positive root pressure.



This is what a Russian Red Fox looks like.



This is what clover that covers the floor of the California Redwood Forest looks like.



This is what Jupiter looks like from the bottom.



This is what a castle on an island in Ireland looks like.



This is what Venice looks like from above.



This is what the Dark Hedges of Northern Ireland look like.



This is what the pyramids look like from a Cairo street.



This is what the border of the United States and Canada looks like.



This is what two hours’ worth of lightning on one pic looks like.



This is what an Osiria Rose looks like.



This is what the turquoise ice formations on Lake Baikal, Russia look like.



This is how Mt. Fuji cuts through the clouds.



This is what a snail drinking from a bubble looks like.



This is what Ice Canyon, Greenland looks like.



This is what sunset looks like from space.



This is what an illegally taken picture from one of the Great Giza Pyramids looks like.



This is what the Apollo Metalmark Butterfly looks like.



This is what the sun looks like when shot in Ultraviolet.



This is what an oasis in Libya looks like.



This is what blue butterflies in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil look like.



This is what an Icelandic ice cave lit up by a burning flare looks like.



This is what a Lenticular cloud over Mount Fuji looks like.



This is what it looks like underneath a breaking wave.



This is how you tow an iceberg. In Newfoundland icebergs are harvested for their water.

Time is Precious

We all struggle in our own way with time.  We don't think too much about the passing of time when we are a child other than it is passing too slow.  This is especially true around Christmas and our birthdays and when we are in an uncomfortable situation or a boring high school class.  Although, when we start dating, time seems to pass by quickly, especially when we have to return home before midnight.

During our young adult years, let's say 21 to 49, we barely pay any attention to time unless we are on a week's vacation and we are half way through our last day.  Those years are spent building our careers and following orders and company rules and the passing of time does not really interest us at all for the most part.  However, there are exceptions to every rule or general statement.

It is only when we turn FIFTY that we begin to see that time has become our enemy.  At the age of 40, there was still a good possibility that we could double our age and still be alive.  BUT...  not at fifty...  again, unless there is an exception.

Not much has changed in our feelings for time by the time we turn SIXTY but when we turn SIXTY-SEVEN and can draw full social security benefits, we again start to think about time.  

How much time do we have left?

• five years... yes
• ten years... yes
• twenty years...  maybe???
• twenty five years...  maybe but doubtful
• thirty years...  highly unlikely

When I think of time now, I reflected upon my father living until 89 and my mother living until 96 and that I might live somewhere in between???

While time now is limited, each day is not rushed through but savored like a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant.  Each day, we are appreciative that we are still above ground.  Each day, we notice all the little things that we did not really notice before like the absolute beauty of nature and a setting or rising sun, and the friendship of animals that have no desire to judge us at all.

Somewhat Political

 

Decoding Quantum Nonlocality

Entangled quantum objects can be used to network separated systems. The researchers demonstrate what is needed for nonlocal correlations, a requirement for a useful quantum

network. Credit: The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign/Wesley Moore

Researchers have developed a theoretical framework that provides deeper insights into quantum nonlocality, a vital property for quantum networks to outperform classical technology. Their study unified previous nonlocality research and showed that nonlocality is achievable only through a restricted set of quantum operations. This framework could aid in evaluating the quality of quantum networks and broaden our understanding of nonlocality.

Introduction and Overview
A new theoretical study has been conducted, providing a framework for understanding nonlocality. This is a crucial characteristic that quantum networks must exhibit to perform tasks unachievable by traditional communications technology. The researchers involved clarified the concept of nonlocality, outlining the conditions necessary for establishing systems with potent quantum correlations.

Nonlocality and Quantum Computing
Published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the study adapted techniques from quantum computing theory to form a novel classification scheme for quantum nonlocality. This adaptation not only enabled researchers to merge previous studies of the concept into a single framework, but also allowed them to prove that networked quantum systems can only exhibit nonlocality if they possess a specific set of quantum features.


Eric Chitambar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the project lead, explained, “On the surface, quantum computing and nonlocality in quantum networks are different things, but our study shows that, in certain ways, they are two sides of the same coin. In particular, they require the same fundamental set of quantum operations to deliver effects that cannot be replicated with classical technology.”  READ MORE...

Discoveries

 

East Tennessee

The Great Smoky Mountains on Tennessee's border with North Carolina are part of the Blue Ridge mountain range (Appalachian Mountains).     Image: Evan Nichols

25 Counties
ANDERSON COUNTY
BLOUNT COUNTY
CAMPBELL COUNTY
CLAIBORNE COUNTY

CARTER COUNTY

COCKE COUNTY
GRAINGER COUNTY
GREENE COUNTY
HAMBLEN COUNTY
HANCOCK COUNTY
HAWKINS COUNTY
JEFFERSON COUNTY
JOHNSON COUNTY
KNOX COUNTY
LOUDON COUNTY
McMINN COUNTY
MONROE COUNTY
MORGAN COUNTY
ROANE COUNTY
SCOTT COUNTY
SEVIER COUNTY
SULLIVAN COUNTY
UNICOI COUNTY
UNION COUNTY
WASHINGTON COUNTY

Major Cities

Chattanooga

Cleveland

Athens

Maryville

Gatlinburg

Pidgeon Forge (not shown)

Sevierville (not shown)

Knoxville

Oak Ridge

Jefferson City (not shown)

Newport

Morristown

Greeneville

Johnson City

Kingsport

Bristol

NOTE:  The Cumberland Plateau separates East Tennessee from Middle Tennessee

East Tennessee Attractions

University of Tennessee - Knoxville/Chattanooga

East Tennessee State University

Knoxville Zoo

Knoxville World's Fair Park

Ancient Lore Village

Oak Ridge National Laboratories

Carson Newman University

Tusculum College

Sunsphere

TVA Parks, Lakes, and Nature Trails

Great Smokey Mountains Park

Gatlinburg Resorts

Jonesborough - oldest city in TN

Pidgeon Forge - Dollywood

Sevierville - Buc-ee's

Bristol Motor Speedway (NASCAR)

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Chattanooga Aquarium

Utopian village of Rugby

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  More on East Tennessee coming in future posts...  stayed tuned...

Zen Story

 

Carrying Astronauts to the Moon

From left to right: The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 2, Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 moon missions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: NASA/Marie Reed)

Three crew-carrying spacecraft are getting ready for their big moon missions.

The Orion capsules for the Artemis 2, Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 moon missions are coming together at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida under stewardship of contractor Lockheed Martin.

"The future of @NASA_Orion is looking pretty good," Lockheed officials wrote on Twitter Friday (July 14) of the three spacecraft, each of which is expected to ferry astronauts to the moon starting in late 2024 or so.

Artemis 2 will send Orion the moon in November 2024 with an already-named crew of four astronauts, while we are still awaiting word of who will fly the Artemis 3 and 4 missions for later in the decade.

Artemis 2 includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Artemis 3 and 4 will both include astronauts from NASA and the European Space Agency.

Artemis 3 is currently scheduled to launch in 2025 or 2026, pending readiness of the SpaceX Starship system that will ferry some of the crew to the surface. Artemis 4 would then follow later in the 2020s, if current schedules hold.

Lockheed Martin is under contract to deliver Orion spacecraft for future Artemis moon missions across several delivery orders. In recent years, the orders for Artemis 3 through 5 had values of $2.7 billion, while Artemis 6 through 9's order is worth $1.9 billion. Lockheed officials previously stressed that building the spacecraft in groups allows them the company realize cost savings via production efficiencies.  READ MORE...

Corn Lover

 

Approve of Relocating NORTHERNERS

We sold our home for 16K above asking price.  The asking price was 34K above what we spent on our new house.  A young family of 5 from Chicago purchased the house because they wanted to get away from all the crime and violence.

• Inflation has increased the value of our home.
• Northern crime and violence has increased the value of our home,
• Northerners fleeing to the south has increased the value of our home.

My wife and I are very thankful for the above three items.  Even after commissions, we made 50K on the transaction that we are going to use in the next few years to buy our FINAL VEHICLE.

We also invested money in a high interest return CD for 18 months, generating us 45K in interest.  We are using this money to furnish our new home with new appliances, new furniture, new floors and odds and ends to make it look different from the home we are leaving.  Or, should I say have left.

MY POINT...

The transaction from our old home to our new home provided us with NEW MONEY for which we will use to purchase a vehicle.  And, the interest on our money is being used to spruce up our new home.  WE HAVE NOT USED ANY OF OUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS...

That does not happen often with Middle Income American Families.  The wealthy families do this all the time...

We purchased the home we just sold for 1/3 of what we sold it for 23 years ago.

Currently we have a 2015 Venza (top of the line) that we purchased in 2016 (it had been leased for a year).  We own a 2015 Lexus NX also purchased in 2016.  Both cars had low mileage and we saved several thousand dollars on each by buying one year old cars instead of new.

Our last vehicle WILL NOT BE AN EV.  We do not want to have to wait in line to charge our battery nor do we want to wait several hours somewhere while our battery is charging.

It will be a hybrid vehicle or a gasoline powered vehicle.  The only EV vehicle will might ever purchase will be a golf cart.

Somewhat Political

 

Nuclear Fusion Pellets

Researchers at the University of Rochester in the US have devised a new method that simplifies the creation of fuel pellets for nuclear fusion reactors. This could aid in the mass production of energy from nuclear fusion, taking it out of the laboratory and into the real world.

Nuclear fusion has long been admired as a clean and safe way of catering to our energy requirements. Scientists have been experimenting with multiple approaches to get this done and, in December 2022, set off the first fusion ignition reaction using 192-high energy lasers.

While these could be regarded as significant milestones, we still need to figure out how this technology could be run at scale and commercial levels. One significant hurdle in this direction is how nuclear fusion fuel is prepared.

To create fuel for fusion reactors, isotopes of hydrogen, namely deuterium, and tritium, are frozen into a solid spherical shell. Since the isotopes are gaseous in their native state, scientists use extremely low temperatures to bring them into a solid state where they can be layered.

The shell is then bombarded with lasers to subject it to extremely high temperatures and pressures, following which it collapses and then ignites to undergo fusion.

While this approach can release enormous amounts of energy, a fusion-based power plant would require millions of such shells every day to supply power reliably. The frozen shell approach is too expensive and not economically feasible.  READ MORE...

Common Sense

 

On Being Retired

In 2015, my wife and I retired...  I am not sure how many years she had worked, but I had worked 45.  For five more years, I continued to work part-time as an adjunct professor teaching businesses classes at a university in Knoxville.

During those first five years, my wife and I traveled all the time, leaving our cats for 7-10 days at a time every other month.  We took cruises, flew to Europe, Canada, Hawaii, and Los Vegas.  When we weren't on cruises or flying Delta, we drove our vehicle...  sometimes the destination took 4-6 hours, sometimes it took 10-12 hours.

What we learned after those five years was that...  number one, we were tired of traveling and number two, we never wore all the clothes we packed.

No matter where we went or how often, we always went to Myrtle Beach twice in the summer.  Once around May/June and again around September/October.

I know several people, including members of my immediate family who will never retire as they have opportunities where they can mix business and pleasure...  and, while that is fine for them, I have no desire to continue working and see how much money I can earn and save.  I have saved enough money to take care of our needs until we are both 95 years old.  I don't need anymore money than that.

Our children, from previous marriages, have already indicated that they do not need us to set aside money for an inheritance, as they are already planning for their retirement.  There will be a substantial amount of money left to them but they are not expecting it and don't need it.

Being retired, does not mean that you do nothing each day.  It just means that you don't have to shave every day, wear a shirt and tie every day, and can take a week to complete a task that would have taken you a day.

My retirement comes with the statement that my wife is no longer cooking and if I want to eat I have to cook my own meals.  If I am cooking my own meals than I have to do my own cleaning up as well.  I did not mind hearing that from her, as I feel she is under no obligation to cook.  I am not a great cook, but after 8 years, I have only thrown away two pots of food that were not tasty.  

When I am not cooking, I am maintaining two blogs and when not working on my blogs, I am writing novels.  The main concern here is that I am staying busy.  I watch the news in the morning until about 10am or so and very little television after that.  I prefer to watch series rather than stand alone hour dramas and find that the BBC series is always better than any American series.  It is a combination of acting and directing, I suppose.

From time to time, I may share some of my travels with you and/or my cooking.  When I cook, I usually make enough for 2-3 meals so I am not cooking everyday.

Be Safe and enjoy your freedoms, especially your freedom of speech...  don't let the government or anyone else censor your opinions.

Buckdancing