How the physics of resonance shapes reality • Hacker News Board

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#31

Post by dr_dshiv » Sat, Feb 05, 2022, 9:04 AM UTC

p_noumenon wrote: post #17

nyc111 wrote: post #12

"Such a bump is the unmistakable signature of “resonance,” one of the most ubiquitous phenomena in nature." If so then, physicists call "resonance" a "particle". Or what physicists call particles are resonances. But why? If you observe resonance call it resonance. I don't get it.

It's still called a particle because that's a useful abstraction, and also keep in mind that correctly identifying it as resonance happened much later than people first started to use said abstraction. In reality, we know by now that there's no such thing as a particle: https://arxiv.org/abs/0807.3930

At first, resonance was used as a programmatic analogy to guide understanding of spectral lines. Then, it turned out that resonance wasn't a metaphor, it was a mechanism.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#32

Post by cout » Sat, Feb 05, 2022, 3:16 PM UTC

dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

"Resonance underlies aspects of the world as diverse as music, nuclear fusion in dying stars, and even the very existence of subatomic particles." I learned recently that the harmonics of consonant musical notes have aligned frequencies. Meaning: the most consonant notes produce the most resonance between the strings. For example, two strings at a consonant interval of a fifth (3:2) have harmonic resonance every 3rd…

Is there a video of the talk that goes with those slides?

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#33

Post by cout » Sat, Feb 05, 2022, 3:25 PM UTC

klyrs wrote: post #8

m-atoms wrote: post #6

If particles can be understood as resonances in a field then it’s hard for me to understand “stable” particles. What keeps them around? My mental model for resonance and waves requires some kind of constant input energy to maintain the oscillations in the field which produce the particles. What am I missing?

Superconductors can theoretically produce perpetual motion: once you set up a supercurrent, it will keep going forever. The caveat being that the electrons that are to move perpetually cannot do work of any kind*. That is, the field generated by the supercurrent cannot be interacted with. Likewise, an ideal LC circuit made of superconducting material can theoretically ring forever, provided "nobody hears the sound".…

Is that assuming that the superconductor itself does not undergo particle decay, or is there something special about superconductors that make them unusually stable compared to other matter in the universe?

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#34

Post by klyrs » Sat, Feb 05, 2022, 4:07 PM UTC

cout wrote: post #33

klyrs wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Superconductors can theoretically produce perpetual motion: once you set up a supercurrent, it will keep going forever. The caveat being that the electrons that are to move perpetually cannot do work of any kind*. That is, the field generated by the supercurrent cannot be interacted with. Likewise, an ideal LC circuit made of superconducting material can theoretically ring forever, provided "nobody hears the sound".…

Is that assuming that the superconductor itself does not undergo particle decay, or is there something special about superconductors that make them unusually stable compared to other matter in the universe?

Yeah, I don't know jack about nuclear physics, so I drew an analogy to a field that I'm more comfortable reasoning about, the electromagnetic field.

Re: How the physics of resonance shapes reality

#35

Post by dr_dshiv » Sat, Feb 05, 2022, 8:15 PM UTC

cout wrote: post #32

dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

"Resonance underlies aspects of the world as diverse as music, nuclear fusion in dying stars, and even the very existence of subatomic particles." I learned recently that the harmonics of consonant musical notes have aligned frequencies. Meaning: the most consonant notes produce the most resonance between the strings. For example, two strings at a consonant interval of a fifth (3:2) have harmonic resonance every 3rd…

Is there a video of the talk that goes with those slides?

I'm working on it. New article will be published next month