The Photon Magazine #2 August 2019

the

photon magazine

#2

The seco nd e TISB ditio 's fir n of st ph ysics pub licat ion

Computational Physics and French Demons pg

14 Need for Speed: Particle Physics

pg 18

T H E

P H Y S I C S

A V E N G E R S !

To celebrate the highest grossing movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame (after the re-release), we decided to dedicate our cover story to exploring the physics behind some of our favourite superheroes from the MCU. Enjoy!

ON PAGE 25

O F

THOR ODINSON:

OUR ANCESTORS CALLED IT MAGIC BUT YOU CALL IT SCIENCE. I COME FROM A LAND WHERE THEY ARE ONE AND THE SAME.

EDITORIAL

PAGE 3 FROM THE PHYSICS CLUB

co

PAGE 4

PAGE 12

STATES OF MATTER

NEED FOR PARTICLE SPEED PHYSICS PAGE 18

PAGE 17

PAGE 18

MICROWAVE'S HOW DO MICROWAVES MICROWAVES WORK? PAGE 20

COVER STORY

PAGE 24

ANT MAN

CAPTAIN AMERICA

PAGE 27

AWARDS

PAGE 32 PAGE 33

photon august'19 | p. 2

FROM THE HISTORY CLUB

PAGE 14

nt MAGNETARS

PAGE 22

STATUS UPDATE

JOKES

PAGE 6

COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS AND FRENCH DEMONS

COMPUTERS AND IMAGES OF HOLES

PAGE 10

en

GREAT MINDS

PAGE 34

PAGE 28

IRON MAN

ts

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Hey! Welcome to the second edition of The Photon Magazine!

Being hard-core Marvel fans, we couldn’t resist the urge to celebrate Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing movie ever. To commemorate this fantastic achievement, we decided to choose "The Physics of Avengers" for the cover story. After being amazed by the scenes, stunts and visual effects, we - being physics nerds - started to question how some aspects of the Avengers would be like if subjected to real-world scientific theories. With this curiosity, we tried to unravel the physics which lied behind some of our favourite superheroes. We hope you enjoy the feature, along with all the new and interesting content.

It was a lot of fun working on this edition, trying to incorporate the helpful feedback we got for the last edition while coming up with more intriguing content.

We would like to thank the editorial team, everyone who sent submissions regardless of whether they were included, and everyone else who played a part in this, no matter how small.

With that, we leave you to it. Read, observe, explore and dive deep into this excellent subject with this awesome new edition of The Photon Magazine!

Happy Reading!

From the Editor-in-Chief Aditya Gaur editorinchief@thephotonmagazine.co m

photon august'19 | p. 3

GREAT MINDS

LEVI LANDAU

ON OT H P P TO ER T I WR

BY AGASTYA RANA

Welcome back to the second edition of Great Minds. This time around, we'll be sharing the story of one of the most clever minds to grace the field of theoretical physics, both in research and teaching. Lev Landau was a Soviet physicist who made pioneering progress in multiple unique branches of physics, from quantum mechanics to superconducting fluids. Here's the story of his numerous contributions and quirks to physics as we know it.

Even as a young child, Landau began to show signs of the intelligence that he later became known for.

photon august'19 | p. 4

He learnt calculus at 13, went to university at 14, and soon graduated at 19 from one of the foremost universities in physics in Soviet Russia

at

physics

the

clear,

time. he

With

was

his

then

instinct offered

for the

chance to travel abroad, where he met and worked

with

groundbreaking

physicists

of

the time - Neils Bohr, Paul Dirac, Wolfgang Pauli

and

more.

knowledge

with

As

his

trips

these

to

other

discover leading

physicists of the time became increasingly frequent,

Landau

also

mastered

German

and French, mustering a decent command on English too.Â

After these highly productive trips, in which

Another one of Landau's quirks (without the

he

discussion

made

pioneering

inroads

into

of

which

Center

Scale", as it is now known. Landau ranked the productivity of physicists he knew on a

the

National

where

he

of

Scientific

Physics

headed

and

the

Department

of

physicist,

decade. He spent the later years of his life

logarithmic

at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute

productive,

for

Newton.

Problems,

superfluidity,

while

government

in

weapons.

where

also

the

a

Moving held

with

title

a

0

the

only

the

special

negative

being

given

down

a

Isaac

scale,

place

most

to

at

Albert

the

Russian

Einstein

nuclear

many of the brainchildren behind quantum

0.5,

and

of

mechanics, including Bohr, Heisenberg and Dirac, came in at 1. Landau placed himself

unheard of.

at

significant world

will

argue

his

lasting

of

of

physics

superfluidity,

array

scale,

was

of

physics

wide

on

scale

research

many

a

serving

worked

this

topics studied by a single physicist is almost

While

Such

he

Genius

scale of 0 to 5. Of course, with him being a

Theoretical Physics for the better part of a

Physical

"Landau's

be

Technology,

at

of

would

settled

Institute

that

article

incomplete)

Kharkiv

is

this

mathematical methods of QM and QED, he

for

that

impacts

was

which

the

his

he

won

most

on

the

theory

of

the

a

2.5,

Landau

later

did

productivity

name

2. his

to

upperclassmen

in

physics

and

early

1960s,

had

Landau's

resulted

in

insane

a

prolific

number of profound discoveries. Alas, this

world, as is Lifshitz. Starting in 1932, Landau

came to an end too; in early 1962, Landau

and

Evgeny

met with a tragic car accident which left

volume

him in a coma for two months. While he

Lifshitz,

former

student

began

comprehensive

to

and

friend

write

a

recovered to a large extent, his scientific

entirety of physics. Many of these volumes,

flair was hampered, which Landau himself

such

realized,

Classical

which

10

the

as

series

across

the

the

his

students

a

of

Nobel

is

familiar

to

use

below a four is not worth talking to."

By

a

himself

practical

grading: he remarked that "Anyone ranked

Prize in 1962, I would beg to differ. Landau

graduate

promoting

make

spanned

Mechanics,

Classical

making

a

statement

in

good

Theory of Fields and Statistical Mechanics,

humour: "I'm afraid my brain is just not the

are still used as graduate-level texts today.

same as what it was. I'll never again be able

The

intention

of

writing

these

books,

to

do

physics

like

Landau.

Maybe

I

could do physics like Zeldovich." - With the

however, was to provide the syllabus for one

latter

of the most notorious exams academia has

cosmologist and friend who Landau would

ever

always mock.

seen.

Aptly

yet

ironically

titled,

the

character

being

a

famous

Theoretical Minimum was a series of exams

As a tribute to our Great Mind, Landau's

that physics students were expected to pass

former

to

graduate

the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics

program at his school. Over the course of

in 1965, three years before Landau's death

27

due

earn

admission

years,

only

"Theoretical

into

43

the

people

Minimum".

The

passed

this

respect

and

students

to

sustained

in

contributions

whose

names

immortalized

paper

and

Most

of

stuck

these

written

outside

names

on

a

piece

Landau's

would

later

of

office.

become

quantum

colleagues

complications

admiration were immense for those 43 souls were

and

the to in

world

founded

from

injuries

car

accident.

physics

have

our and

knowledge in

His been

of

textbooks

the that

thousands of students read every year..

big names in the field.

photon august'19 | p. 5

FROM THE HISTORY CLUB

THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS

TON PHO P TO TER WRI

HARI KRISHAN CHOUDHARI

The 16th of July, 1945. A small group of 10 men

stood

atop

a

hill

in

the

barren

desert of New Mexico, facing a modest steel structure 20 miles in the distance.

Suspended

from

small

sphere and

steel

this

structure within

was the

a

48-

kilogram capsule lay the fate of the free world, the culmination of years of effort by a combined force of three nations. As the

seconds

scientists

counted

atop

the

hill

down, placed

the bets.

Some believed the experiment would be a

colossal

predicted One

man

failure,

twice

the

applied

while expected

large

another results.

amounts

of

sunscreen, causing the other men and the guards to become uneasy. But as the seconds counted down to the moment of truth, the observers laid down on the ground with their feet facing the Trinity site

and

simply

waited.

As

the

countdown approached one minute, one of the men, Isidore Rabi, said to the man lying next to him,

photon august'19 | p. 6

photon august'19 | p. 7

Kenneth

Griesen,

"Nope"

was

"Aren't

Griesen's

countdown

you

nervous?"

reply.

As

the

reached

model considered for the atomic bomb was a gun-type fission weapon codenamed Thin Man.

10

seconds, Griesen suddenly blurted out to his

This design involved shooting a hollow bullet of

neighbor Rabi, "Now I'm scared." Three, two,

radioactive

one, and Sam Allison cried out, "Now!"1

Plutonium 239, through a hollow cylinder onto a

material,

such

as

Uranium

235

or

spike which fills its center, hence triggering a He

had

from

finally

prying

arrived.

eyes,

Empty,

with

isolated,

exceptional

far

natural

nuclear

their

mountains

number

the

Oppenheimer

distance:

conveyed

it

his

was

perfect.

preference

for

the site to the engineers present with him. It

These

substances

are

isotopes, I.e. radioactive and unstable forms of

beauty and a view of the Sangre de Cristo in

explosion.

original of

elements

neutrons

containing

than

a

standard.

different The

issue

presenting itself to the scientists was the nature of the material used for the bullet.

had poor access roads and a less than ideal water supply, but it’d do.

The primary source of radioactive material for these scientists were the facilities at Oak Ridge,

Construction began at the site, converting it

Tennessee.

into a state-of-the-art research laboratory.

was extremely costly and difficult to scale up to

Oppenheimer’s

an industrial level: Uranium 235 was required,

number

of

original

personnel

estimate

required

for

stood

the

at

50

and

this

The

enrichment

made

up

just

0.71%

naturally

long to produce an acceptably high quantity.

and

year. All

of this

far

too

next

The other alternative was Plutonium 239, first

infrastructure,

and

produced at the X-10 graphite reactor at Oak

manpower was channeled toward the pursuit

Ridge. However, the extraction of this isotope

of

also

a

single

Atomic

goal: the

Bomb.

For

this

5700

take

the

effort,

to

would

of

1943, 3500 people were living in Los Alamos, jumped

it

there

occurring

number

and

Uranium

scientists and 50 technicians. By the end of

this

Uranium,

of

creation was

the

of

the

first

Manhattan

240,

resulted which

in

large

quantities of Plutonium

undergoes

spontaneous

fission

at

Project in full swing, and the laboratory at

thousands of times the rate of plutonium-239.

Los

The extra neutrons it released meant that there

Alamos,

New

Mexico

was

its

beating

heart. This project carried with it the hope of

was

the USA and its allies of a swift end to the

plutonium in a gun-type fission weapon would

an

Second World War, which was approaching

detonate

too

its most crucial moments at the time.

formed,

producing

explosion But

throughout

this

period

soon

many

high

after a

times

a

probability

critical

mass

"fizzle"—a smaller

than

that

was

nuclear a

full

puzzle

explosion. This meant that the Thin Man bomb

challenged the great minds assembled at the

design that the laboratory had developed would

laboratory. The original

not work properly.

photon august'19 | p. 8

a

unacceptably

However,

mathematician

John

von

Neumann

40

seconds

later,

the

shock

wave

hit

the

arrived at a potential solution to this problem.

observers, knocking over one man and being

His

bomb

felt over 100 miles away. They had done it. At

implosion

5:30 PM, July 16th, 1945, the world entered the

alternative

using

design

for

an

Plutonium was known

atomic

as

an

type weapon. The specifics of its functioning

Atomic age.

are far too complex for me to explain in this article, but in short, a core of plutonium would

However, the celebrations soon died out as the

be

men

surrounded

Alternating would

with

detonation

rapidly

high of

compress

the

explosives.

these

explosives

plutonium

realized

accomplished.

core,

history,

ensuring the chain reaction began at the right

destroy

moment.

recounted,

exactly For

mankind itself. a

the

what first

possessed

As

Robert

verse

from

they

time

the

in

had human

capability

Oppenheimer the

to

later

Bhagavad

Gita

entered his mind at that moment. It was the And so the stage was set for the first ever test

words

of

Vishnu

as

he

revealed

himself

to

of an atomic bomb in human history, known as

Prince Arjuna: “Now I am become Death, the

Trinity. The site chosen was the bombing range

destroyer of worlds”.

of Alamagordo, south of Los Alamos in New Mexico. A prototype of the bomb, codenamed

The 9th of August, 1945. An implosion bomb

“The

ranch

codenamed “Fat Man”, a more sophisticated

tests

version of the Gadget, falls from a Boeing B-

Gadget”,

house

was

close

were

assembled

in

the

site,

to

conducted

and

a

instrumentation

29

Superfortress

the

Japan.

47

slumbering

seconds later over 30,000 people are dead,

from

the

seconds

tower ticked

holding down,

the

Sam

20

gadget, Allison

miles

Nagasaki,

upon

VIPs

from Compania hill,

of

“Boxcar”

calibrated. At last, on June 16th 1945, the 10 watched

city

bomber

as

the

and 60,000 injured. The effects of this on the

cried

out

population of the city are evident to this day.

“Now”, and...

Though the debate about the justification of the use of the atomic bomb rages even today,

A searing flash of light, changing from purple

the lesson learned from its creation still holds

to green to blue to violet to gold, lit up the

its worth today: that physics is far more than a

desert

subject one learns in class. It holds the fate of

of

Alamogordo

with

instantaneous

intensity. It lighted every peak, crevasse and ridge

of

the

nearby

mountain

range

with

human civilization in its hands.

a

clarity and beauty that cannot be described but must be seen to be imagined.

photon august'19 | p. 9

ASTRONOMICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE DOPPLER EFFECT TON PHO P TO TER WRI

FROM THE PHYSICS CLUB YASH CHAUHAN

The concept of ‘Doppler Shift’ has many

Astronomers

applications,

galaxy

shifted

in

but

it

wavelength

is

fundamentally

when

a

body

is

moving further or closer to the point of reference. emitting

If

an

organisation

radiation

has

a

that

radial

is

velocity

use

found

the

by

redshift

using

of

the

the

exact

wavelength emitted and absorbed by the

body.

Even

wavelength

small

can

tell

changes

us

a

in

celestial

body’s recessive velocity.

relative to an observer, the wavelength of the

emission

depending getting

shorten

upon

closer

observer.

will

This

whether

or

further

change

or the

away

in

lengthen, body from

is the

wavelength

is

known as the Doppler effect or shift. When an object is moving closer to an observer, then the emission lines will be ‘blueshifted’ (the

wavelength

of

the

emission

will

be

This could also help to analyse what type of entity it is (exoplanet, binary, etc.).

Doppler

shift

is

cosmological

different

redshift

from

in

which

galaxies and stars are moving away from

us

from

Earth,

the

which

expansion

point

is

and

of

view

caused

by

acceleration

of the

of

the

shortened, shifting towards the blue end

Universe.

of the spectrum). On the other hand, when

when a galaxy is moving away from us

an object is moving further away from an

causes

observer, then the emission lines will be

causes

‘redshifted’

the

side of the spectrum, as shown below.

emission will increase, shifting towards the

This is because the photons have to

red end of the spectrum ).

travel

(

the

wavelength

of

The

a it

change to

for

galaxies

redshift

in

move

longer are

that

occurs

spectra

towards

durations

moving

and

the

as

further

red

the

away

relative to the position of the Earth.

This is why the increase in wavelength is

due

to

the

expansion

of

the

Universe.

This

image

shows

how

recession

velocity is calculated, therefore. This demonstrates

the

relationship

between redshift and velocity, which are directly proportional. This relates to Hubble’s law in which the galaxies furthest away from us are moving the fastest relative to the Earth’s position.

The expansion factor of the Universe is equal to 500 km/sec/Mpc, which is the value of Hubble’s constant.

photon august'19 | p. 10

The

second

trend

of

image

the

Universe

as

correlation

shows

expansion there

is

of

a

between

the

There

the

spectra

strong

distance

and recessive velocity. However,

are

also

of

other

distant

factors

celestial

that

can

bodies

such

impact as

gas

pressure wherein area of high pressure causes the spectra

to

thicken

and

become

less

sharp

(

pressure broadening ).

there is another form of redshift called

‘gravitational

which

was

Albert

initially

Einstein

in

redshift’

proposed his

by

‘General

In high-pressure regions of space such as stars, there are

more

energy

state

Theory of Relativity’. Gravitational

spectral

redshift occurs at areas in space

thickness

with

extreme

gravitational

collisions,

the

decreases,

lines. of

so

Another

active

thereby factor

spectral

lines

mechanical

uncertainty’

regarding

levels

quantifiable

lifetimes

the

radiation

broadening

the

affects

the the are

the

‘Quantum energy hence

E

the

to

original width of a line ( very narrow ). The final factor that affects the width of the spectral lines is

always

the

travel

but

energy

at

they

to

the

have

avoid

gravitational frequency

lengthen

the

escape the gravity. Photons must

light,

must

of

that is,

effects where the wavelength of

with

lifetime

speed to

the

field,

must

large

scale

turbulent

motion

of

the

single

particles in the gas from the reference point of the

intense

observer.

so

change

of

expend

its rather

The

Universe

is

not

only

expanding

but

also

than its velocity. This causes the

accelerating constantly. This is due to an unknown

photon to shift towards the red

substance called dark energy that constitutes over

end of the spectrum, hence the

70% of all the mass in the observable Universe. This

name

For

expansion of the Universe leads us to the conclusion

powerful

that celestial bodies are moving further away from

gravitational

radiation

emitted

redshift. in

gravitational areas such as near

the

black

their movement in their local systems.

holes,

the

gravitational

point

of

reference

of

the

Earth,

disregarding

redshift is very large and is given by the following equation where z is the gravitational redshift.

References:

http://astronomy.swin.edu. au/cosmos/G/Gravitationa l+Redshift

http://hosting.astro.cornell. edu/academics/courses/as tro201/hubbles_law.htm

https://i.stack.imgur.com/iu 7q4.png

photon august'19 | p. 11

FROM THE CODING CLUB

Computers and Images of Holes ROHAN GUPTA

You may have heard of the first-ever image of a black hole, or even seen it, but do you know what went on under the hood to actually construct this?

Katie

Bouman,

a

key

computer

scientist

behind this discovery, answers “We have spent an enormous amount of time making sure that what we were seeing was actually real and not just something that, even subconsciously,

Perhaps you’ve heard that the team of

we might have imposed on the data.”

scientists

telescopes

It was later noted, in an interview, that to

from around the world to ‘act as a single

remove the possibility of bias shared by the

telescope’ and capture this breathtaking

entire

image.This might have led you to wonder

imaging

what

all

each working on a different sort of algorithm.

these images, filtering out noise in the

They were not allowed to communicate with

form of atmospheric disturbances. Surely

one another.

used

exactly

a

it

bunch

was

of

that

combined

team,

the

experts

project into

split

four

its

computer-

different

groups,

this sparse, noisy data meant that there could be an infinite number of possible

Indeed,

images?

likely no bias in generating the images, but it

Furthermore,

how

was

it

it

is

good

to

know

more

image that was so similar to what we

algorithms

which

were

“choose the most likely set of images”. How

to

seeing

represented as?

black

holes

does

a

computer

said

distinguish

the

was

generates

were

in

there

possible that they indeed generated an

used

interest

that

to

actual

impartially

“noise”

thousands of seemingly random images?

photon august'19 | p. 12

from

TECHNOLOGY

The

answer

Bouman’s

(and

more)

algorithm

is

found

named

in

CHIRP,

continuous image and not chunks of data.

Bouman

cleverly

envisioned

which was built around the idea that

samples of images as spikes of signals

black

background

and designed her algorithm so as to

shadow of hot gas. Bouman would then

cover the spikes with an ‘envelope’ to

attempt

machine-learning

smooth

the

algorithm to fill gaps in data produced

image.

Think

by telescopes from around the world.

blanket over your knees.

holes

to

Through

the

leave

use

a

a

process,

Bouman,

singles of

to

it

a

as

coherent

spreading

a

along

with her team, identified and tackled

Lastly,

and

perhaps

three major issues adding to the clarity

important

and success of their algorithm.Consider

Multiple deep learning-based models

a regular 3 bit interface. It can be in

were trained on massive amounts of

2^3 = 8 possible configurations, out of

astronomically

which we select one.

black

problem

hole

-

the

most

removing

‘normal’

bias.

images

simulations.

The

and

primary

idea was to feed similar data to each The first issue they needed to solve is

of these models in hopes of receiving

that each telescope received the signal

similar

at

validate results.

different

times

due

to

their

reconstructed

images

to

placement on Earth. The interference of the data tended to be inconsistent

CHIRP

with

one

techniques

here

was

radio

another. the

waves

The

breakthrough

realisation from

three

that

when

telescopes

and

employs within

presents

construct baseline

cancel

telescopes)

the

distortion

from

the

computer sound

images

multiplied together, it would effectively out

a

revolutionary

method

from

very

interferometry imaging.

to

long

(multiple

By

using

Bayesian

Another unique and lucrative property

cleaning

of qubits is entanglement:

smoothening

and clears various benchmarks in the

continuity.

they

With

had

each

to

deal

with

field

of

telescope,

they

mention

data,

validating

a

climate.

Furthermore,

model,

science

and

novel

technique,

computer its

a

unbiased

and image

CHIRP

vision,

sets

not

verification

to of

only see a single slice of the night sky.

Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.

They needed a way to reconstruct the

Perhaps

data as a

scientists to take over the media?

it

is

time

for

computer

photon august'19 | p. 13

ARTICLES

COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS AND FRENCH DEMONS

PH

OT TO ON WR P ITE R

From the dawn of time, the endless expanse

A computational physicist’s job is to create a

of

computer

the

void

has

both

captivated

and

program

the

until a mere sixty years ago that man was

program can accurately predict what would

able

occur. Primarily, the field of computational

this

empyrean

dominion

of

of

had

simulating our reality and predicting possible

matched our ambition, and we went further

scenarios; This allows to conduct much time

than we had ever gone before. But both this

consuming

fascination and this project are of a time

virtually,

long

car.

gone;

we

Age,

now

our

live

capability

in

the

age

of

and

around

the

the

physics

Atomic

centred

scenario,

god. Finally, with the newfound technology the

is

individual

given

parameters

enter

an

that

entranced the human mind. But it was not

to

of

such

expensive

such

as

of

experiments

crash

Computational

notion

testing

physics

is

a also

convenience where quick doorstep delivery

extensively used to model outer space; this

is far more critical than anything beyond our

allows

visible

universe without having to leave our planet

grasp.

With

this

newfound

lust

for

to

understand

space

explore arises. Could we, perhaps, one day

simulations

explore

perfect substitute, it does help us prevent

radiance

from

the

all

its

comfort

magnificent

of

our

living

many

exploration. are

our

near

problems

current

being

from

ever

experimentation is required. Ultimately, real

universe at our fingertips? Complicated

testing is necessary to prove a theory, but

tasks such as this are precisely what the vast

we

and

experiments are likely to be the most fruitful.

recently

emergent

field

computational physics is all about.

photon august'19 | p. 14

of

less

a

eternal beauty and magnitude of an endless

least

least,

to

occurring,

at

the

alternative

room? Is it possible, then, to have all the

can

at

Although

nowhere

lower-level so

cheap

our

of how to modernize this ancient desire to

in

a

observe

and

cosmos

therefore,

and

speed and instant convenience, the question

the

is,

us

determine

real-life

which

ARTICLES

But as we grow more capable of simulating

Although the player does not know where

our reality, we may then be able to broaden

precisely each number belongs, by satisfying

our

number

understanding

simulating

of

physics

constraints

(i.e.

a

name

may

not

appear twice in the same column) they are

physics engine, which was just released last

able to deduce the exact position of each

year,

number. This exercise in logic is similar to

papers

already

to

been

prove

The

by

IllustrisTNG

has

experiments.

just

used

numerous the

how computers satisfy physical constraints to

nature and formation of black holes. To

simulate reality, i.e. if force is applied to part

virtually conduct experiments as well as to

of

accurately portray the universe, a simulation

accelerate.However, simulations, as to make

requires

our predictions rely on the notion that our

our

several

by

current

theories

laws

of

on

physics

to

a

ball,

the

physical laws and equations to predict an

correct.

outcome. Say for example, that a ball is in a

example with the ball, if we were to believe

vacuum 10m above the surface of Earth, by

that a = Fm or any other false notion, our

using the fundamental equations of motion

prediction of how the ball would fall would

we may deduce the exact moment that the

be wrong. Similarly, if the fundamental laws

ball will hit the ground. It is thousands of

of physics within a simulation are incorrect,

calculative

then the simulation would no longer be an

make

up

used

the

in

complex

the

such

as

physics

field

this

that

simulations

today.

Similarly,

accurate

us

return

portrayal

computational

laws

of

to

our

physics

of

must

understanding

predictions

the

ball

compute an output. Given a scenario, it uses

Let

of

entire

physics

the

is

previous

reality. Overall

relies

on

both

a

computational physics need not always be

mastery of physical laws and the ability to

computerized,

efficiently

have

the

and

more

it

just

often

exceptional

is

as

and

they

faster

translate

algorithm.Lastly,

those

laws

the

into

question

an of

calculative ability. Another necessary

computational physics ultimately boils down

calculative

to

procedure

is

constraints. A

constraint

condition

must

that

be

the is

use

essentially

satisfied

for

of a our

the

universe. That

we

the

particles

of

restraints

is

in

the

game

are

aware

Sudoku. In the game a player must fill a 9x9

given

square

attributes,

grid

with

numbers

from

1-9

while

following certain constraints, i.e. the same

is,

are

nature

there

of

fixed

our

physical

laws that govern our universe whether or not

simulation to hold true. A typical example of use

deterministic

in

of

the

closed

momentum then

them? If

is

and there

there

system

both

other only

are

one

two with

physical possible

way for them to react?

number may not appear twice in a row.

photon august'19 | p. 15

61 .p | 91'tsuguA notohp

ARTICLES

In a deterministic universe, yes, as there are

The

constraints as to how particles may respond,

therefore, be though to be the creation of a

and

Laplace’s Demon. This goal will allow us to

immutable

energy,

or

laws

as

anything

to

how

computational

physics

may,

accurately predict and model everything in

electrons must always repel each other). If

our universe, from the mitosis of cells to the

such is the case, then in any closed system

nature

with a finite number of particles, each with

precisely what will happen on a subatomic

fixed

level.

attributes,

behaves

of

(i.e.

physical

else

matter,

goal

there

should

only

of

Supernova

So,

conclusion,

if

you

know

house, pick up a book on Philosophy.

laws

governing

the

without

can

explore

specific

galaxy

we

be one outcome. Therefore, if we were to the

the

in

as

know

want

leaving

to the

universe, we should be able to predict the future. If we were to know the exact physical attributes of every particle in a human brain, then

we

can

react. And reactions,

as this

predict our

how

they

thoughts

are

implies

that

also

shall

chemical we

can

predict what the brain shall think. This also boils down the concept of randomness to us, not knowing the physical attributes and laws of a system. For example, it is already well known that when the exact conditions of a coinflip

are

known,

we

may

accurately

predict the outcome of the flip. So, what if we

were

to

significant

apply

scenarios,

predict/simulate create

our

this

logic

could

the

we

entire

Matrix?This

is

to

more

one

day

universe

the

exact

or

idea

presented by famous French mathematician and

physicist

Pierre-Simon

Laplace. In

his

thought experiment of Laplace’s Demon, a Laplace’s Demon is an entity that knows both the

specific

physical

laws

governing

the

universe and the exact physical attributes of every

particle

able

to

present. The

predict

every

Demon

event

is

that

then may

subsequently occur, basically predicting the future.

photon august'19 | p. 16

By Rishi S Papani

ARTICLES

STATES OF MATTER Classical states:

·

Photonic matter: in some rare conditions

Solid: the particles are very close together,

called quantum nonlinear media, photons-

and the solids have a definite shape and

the

particles

volume.

are

massless,

Liquid: the particles are more loosely held than

that

of

solids,

and

they

have

definite volume but no definite shape.

a

·

that

make

and

up

usually

light

don’t

waves, interact

with each other- can behave as if they had mass, and interact with each other, and can form photonic “molecules”.Think

Gas: the particles are very loosely held and

of the photonic matter like the matter that

they have no definite shape or volume.

makes

Plasma: they are hot ionized gases, but are

not

called

gases

because

they

can

aren’t

up

lightsabers.

really

sure

if

Except

it

can

scientists

decapitate

people yet.

self-generate magnetic fields and electric

Quantum matter: it gives rise to electricity,

currents, unlike gases.

something called “quantized Hall voltage”.

A

Modern states: Excitonium:

·

the

quantum

spin

Hall

state

(currently

theoretical, but who knows what it could state

where

an

electron

be

in

the

future?)

the

devices

that

development

in

lose less energy and heat up less. That

atom,

but

isn’t)

tend

to

stay

in

a

localized region and are attracted to each

means

other by electrostatic forces.

and

Degenerate matter: a highly dense state of

emission of heat.

fermionic

Bose-Einstein

matter

(fermions

include

the

longer

electronic

allow

and a hole (a place an electron could be an

of

may

lives

basically

all

for

phones,

electronics,

condensate:

laptops

with

This

is

less

a

low

particles that makes up protons, neutrons

energy phase that is not present in nature,

and electrons- quarks and leptons) where

because it needs a temperature very close

particles must have really high states of

to zero Kelvin- absolute zero. The phase

kinetic energy and are under really high

occurs

pressure.This matter can be found in white

(particles

dwarf stars and neutron stars.

above] like photons and gluons) all inhabit the

when

same

a

that

large

number

aren’t

quantum

of

bosons

fermions

state

and

[look

basically

become one single wave or particle.

By Shristi Kulkarni

photon august'19 | p. 17

ARTICLES

NEED FOR SPEED Particle physics, or high energy physics,

But that all might change sooner than we

concerns itself with the interaction and

think.

behaviour

Scientists

particles energy.

of

the

that The

smallest

constitute

current

detectable matter

Standard

and

Model

in

recently

at

MIT,

tested

technology

new

that

machine

could

CERN

learning

revolutionize

the

method

made

compilation at the Large Hadron Collider.

of

24

elementary,

irreducible

data

and

particle physics holds that all matter is up

of

Fermilab,

The

their respective anti-particles). However,

collisions per second and parsing through

while the Standard Model is the currently

all

dominant

collisions

in

particle

physics,

its

the

initiates

data is

about

collected

without

proved.Â

sophisticated

technology.

sets

become

larger

the

necessity

case

can

be

made

that

particle

physics has one of the biggest knowledge gaps of all branches of modern physics, which

is

urgency step

why to

there

close

towards

this

is

an

gap.

this

increasing

One

goal

crucial

was

the

construction of the Large Hadron Collider, which

has

been

breakthroughs

in

the

instrumental field,

one

of

in the

either

analysis

million

from

these

incomprehensibly

mechanisms have not been conclusively

The

40

and

particles called fermions (12 particles and

theory

collider

computation

powerful

of

is

tough

computers

and

Now, more

as

data

complex,

improvements

becoming

or

in

data

evident.

This

machine learning system is an important step

in

the

direction

of

boosting

computing power to isolate data sets of collisions

that

could

potentially

be

of

interest to scientists.

Compared

to

existing

methods,

this

machine learning tech boosts processing

most notable ones being the confirmation

speeds

of

Boson,

methods can process 1 image per second,

often referred to as the ‘God Particle’, in

the new technology can go through 600

2012.

in

the

properties

Due

demand

to

for

of

the

the

the

Higgs

immense

use

of

the

utility

and

collider,

it

produces massive amounts of data, which under current computing standards takes excruciatingly

long

to

evaluate.

photon august'19 | p. 18

analyze

and

the

up

to

same

developed

175

time.

by

times.

The

teaching

While

current

technology the

was

system

to

identify a specific post-collision pattern that indicated the presence of top quarks, one of the 24 fermions of the standard model.

ARTICLES

PARTICLE PHYSICS The success of this technology bodes well for

particle

physicists,

as

it

will

Answers to the puzzles from the last edition

significantly decrease the time it takes for the data of relevant particle collisions to be

isolated,

especially

considering

the

upgrades that the LHC is undergoing. It is currently shut down for upgrades and will be

reopened,

tentatively,

in

spring

Answer 1 Twenty

steps

because

the

are

ladder

still

above

and

boat

water,

both

rise

with the tide.

of

2021, when it will resume operation. As a result

of

currently

the

enhancements

being

made,

the

that

LHC

are

will

be

producing even more data than it already does.

By

some

estimates,

it

will

be

producing 20 times as much data as early as 2026. Additionally, the images that will be

taken

after

extremely

high

upgrades resolution,

will

have

which

only

makes matters worse on the computing front,

but

makes

them

undeniably

more

Answer 2 Student

B

is

correct.

The

blocks

will

experience the same retarding force due to friction. We specified that the blocks slide at constant speed, so, as they aren't accelerating, the net force on each block as it slides is zero. The contact area must support the same weight in both cases, so the normal force is the same for both, and so are the forces due to friction.

exciting on the physical one.

By the estimates of some scientists and engineers, the LHC will require at least 10 times

as

much

computing

power

as

it

already possesses for it to function at an acceptable

pace.

The

development

of

new machine learning technology like this is a massive achievement for both particle physics

and

indication

computing

that

machine

and

is

a

learning

clear is

way to go for data analysis at the LHC.

the

By Yash Panjwani

photon august'19 | p. 19

Microwaves ubiquitous might

TO N TO WR P ITE R

are

among

appliances

take

MICROWAVE'S MICROWAVES

PHO

ARTICLES

them

for

the

ever

made.

granted

reheat

yesterday’s

leftovers,

truly

a

remarkable

feat

Ever

wonder

how

they

most

of

You

while

but

you

they’re

engineering.

work

and

make

things hot so fast? Ever wonder why they

The

waves

used

in

a

microwave

are

standing waves because if they weren’t, they

would

themselves

reflect in

and

interfere

unnecessarily

with

complicated

ways. This property of the radiation used in microwaves can be used to find out the

almost blow up when you forget to take

wavelength

the tin foil off your food? Do you want to

microwave. Place a tray of cheese in the

know how to measure the wavelength of microwave

radiations

using

cheese?

If

you do, then read on.

The

critical

of

radiation

found

in

a

microwave. Keep the plate on top a cup so the dish doesn’t rotate. After heating the cheese for a while, you should notice

difference

between

a

that it has some uncooked spots on it. This

microwave and any other heating device

is

is the microwave is able to heat a body

microwaves

evenly simultaneously. Whereas an oven,

nodes and antinodes. Antinodes are areas

for example, would have to heat an entity from outside to inside, the microwave is able to heat up the body inside and out at the same time. This is because of the

because use

the to

standing heat

up

waves

things

has

of maximum energy, so the most heating occurs at these locations whereas nodes are areas of minimum energy, so the least

bodies.

heating occurs there. Taking the distance

Microwaves, as the name suggests, emit

between two uncooked spots of cheese

microwave

can

unique

way

microwaves

radiation.

microwave

radiation

electromagnetic

that

nothing

but

radiation, field

directions.

Microwaves

Given is

electromagnetic

changing

heat

can

is

its

continuously

Keep

this

only

heat

in

mind. bodies

allow

you

to

find

the

distance

between two nodes of the waves in the microwave, and so you can find out the frequency and wavelength of microwaves this way. This unevenness in heating due

because

to the nature of standing waves is why

water is a polar molecule. When water

microwaves have turntables. The rotating

containing

moisture.

This

is

molecules are placed in the continually changing

electromagnetic

fields,

their

extreme natures cause them to rock back and

forth

molecular

rapidly

friction

thereby

which

body in the microwave.

photon august'19 | p. 20

heats

causing up

the

motion spreads the heat evenly.

HOW DO MICROWAVES WORK? How

do

microwaves

the

Now, with all this out of the way, why does

radiation required to heat up things up?

keeping metal in a microwave cause it to

The answer to that is the magnetron. The

spark?

magnetron consists of a solid metal rod

held in the microwave. It’s only metal with

acting as the cathode surrounded by a

sharp edges. Metals contain free mobile

ring-shaped

electrons

anode.

produce

ARTICLES

Between

these

two

Well,

not

all

(which

metal

is

why

they

conduct

electricity).

When

is passed through the cathode, it heats

microwave,

the

up. When it is hot enough, the electrons

electrons to move around. When the metal

“boil” off and move across the vacuum to

has sharp edges, electrons crowd around

the positive anode. This entire apparatus

these points, and if the concentration of

is placed under a magnetic field created

electrons increases enough, the electrons

by two magnetic that surround the system.

discharge

This magnetic field causes the electrons

which

to spiral in the circular space between the

you can keep spoons in the microwave,

cathode and anode. The anode produces

but

grooves along its inner surface. So, when

edges. Now, that’s how microwaves work.

electrons spiral around the cavity, they hit

Think

the slots periodically. When the electrons

engineering going on the next time you

are in contact with a part of the anode,

reheat your food. Come again next time

that

to find out more about the science behind

part

of

negatively created

the

anode

charged.

between

elements

of

the

it

becomes

Hence, and

anode.

a

more

more

field

is

causes

not

radiation

the

lower

sparks.

forks.

about

are

when

components is a vacuum. When electricity

into

they

sparks

This

Forks

all

the

kept

causes

in

the

these

potential is

the

have

physics

air,

reason

sharp

and

everyday appliances.

positive

However,

as

electron spiral is continuously moving the location of the more negatively charged areas is also always changing, and so by extension the electric fields between the grooves are ever changing. The rate at which they are changing is designed to created

microwaves

of

the

desired

frequency.

By Rithvik Chandra Papani

photon august'19 | p. 21

ARTICLES

WHAT ARE MAGNETARS AND Side

note

‘science

-

If

you

books’,

guys

you

read

a

should

lot

of

already

It’s all this degeneracy pressure that causes the blast “that puts the super in supernova”.

understand the book reference I’ve made — apologies for more to come.

Now, if this pressure is too high, we get a black hole. But that’s not what we want to

Neutron stars are a variant of dead stars.

talk about.

When a ginormous (like eight times bigger than the Sun) star is dying because it runs

Now back to the Neutron star is a city-sized

out

ball made up of atomic nuclei that spins. For

of

fuel

in

its

core,

it

momentarily

countenances Gravity to win and make the

more

star’s core crush itself, tenser and tighter.

(There’s

With unimaginable amounts of pressure, the

make yourself aware of)

helium

present

starts

to

fuse,

on

Neutron a

nice

stars,

Pasta

head

to

analogy

Wikipedia. you

should

combing

oxygen and carbon until it too, runs out.

Now

the

about

spinning.

These

stars

spin

That marks the official end of the fusion

about a few hundred times in one second.

process in a regular star such as our own Sun.

However,

the

said

ginormous

stars

Let that sink in.

keep collapsing, rising up the periodic table with exceedingly intense and brief reaction

With all this complicated stuff, we have pretty

phases,

insane

up

till

nickel

unyielding

chunk

formed

the

of

iron.

nickel

and

iron

is

too,

due

to

fields

lurking

around

these

protons

and

stars weird

level. Yes, despite the name, neutron stars

lot

also

star

residue the

fact

without

magnetic

material left to react with. But there’s still a

and

core,

now

properties of physics due to densities of that

of

stellar

This

any

core,

in

and

around, that

crushing

no

fusion

the now

have

magnetic

fields.

I

mean,

guys,

these things are DENSE. No joke. Like really

releases energy means that there is nothing

dense.

left to resist the collapse.

sometimes even light falls into orbit around a

The

Gravity

is

so

strong

that

Neutron star.

So, collapsing happens — a lot of it. The iron

and

nickel

nuclei

(yes,

nuclei.

Atoms

All

of

us

know

the

more

you

squeeze

a

are long gone) break apart. Electrons get

magnet, the denser it becomes, and the field

shoved into protons, transforming them into

gets stringer. Now think about that on a scale

neutrons,

of

and

“the

neutrons…

stay

neutrons.”

a

Neutron

Moreover,

there

star are

squished more

level

dense.

complex

physics

reactions going on inside, so that adds to the There’s a lot more collapsing that happens, and we are, in the end, left with a ball of neutrons.

photon august'19 | p. 22

magnetic field.

ARTICLES

WHY WE SHOULD ALL CARE Just to put into perspective how strong that

but

is:

molecular structure. In the words of Mr Paul

it

will

just

disintegrate

your

entire

Earth’s Magnetic field – 1 Gauss

Sutter, “In a magnetar’s field, you just kind

Sun’s Magnetic field – a few hundred Gauss

of…dissolve”.

(varies on the location from the surface) MRI – 10,000 Gauss

Lucky

for

us,

Magnetars

have

a

relatively

A Neutron star – A Trillion with a capital T

short life span of about 10,000 years. Then

Gauss

they just retire long-term to being our friendly neighbourhood Neutron star.

Finally,

we

have

now

reached

the

Magnetars.

Why

should

almost

you

certainly

care?

Recently,

witnessed

a

we

have

black

hole

As the name suggests, it’s an even more

swallow a Neutron star. We don’t really know

magnetic

A

a whole lot about what goes inside one of

version

Quadrillion

of

the

Gauss.

Neutron

1,000

those and why what happens and the way it

Trillion times stronger than the field we exist

does. Not only is this a leap for gravitational

in. This very easily makes them producers of

waves related study, but this discovery may

the

also allow us to look into what exactly goes

Strongest

That’s

star.

about

Magnetic

Field

in

the

Universe.

into the making of a Neutron star and why it

These fields are strong enough to destroy

turns

the

“natural”

forms

of

interesting, we might even learn more about

The

charges

in

atom

an

atoms

completely.

respond

to

the

field, just because of the sheer strength of

out

the

way

it

does.

What’s

more

black holes! So it’s better if you knew the basics.

it. They stretch into needle-thin rods as their proximity

to

a

Magnetar

increases.

With

atoms all haywire, it means that just about all

chemistry,

our

brilliant

teachers

Nonetheless,

I

think

Magnetars

are

pretty

cool.

have

taught us fails. These fields can activate enormous blasts of high-intensity radiation.

They don’t sound too friendly.

Let’s

say

you

were

to

go

close

to

a

Magnetar, say about 1,000 km. The field is so

strong

with

bioelectricity

will

not

(make

only

disrupt

nerve

your

impulses

“hilariously” useless),

By Dhruvi Hiren Parekh

photon august'19 | p. 23

The Physics of

To celebrate the highest grossing movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame (after the re-release), we decided to dedicate our cover story to exploring the physics behind some of our favourite superheroes from the MCU. Since, we can't possibly cover all of them, a few have been chosen based on their relevance with physics. Enjoy!

photon august'19 | p. 24

photon august'19 | p. 25

Ant-Man

by Aditya Gaur

According to the origin story in Ant-Man, the

Let’s try the other possibility, where the mass

suit reduces the separation between atoms.

scales with your size. You will weigh around

This

separation

mass

remains

means the

that

same.

the

amount

of

0.03 grams, resulting in you flying away with

density

is

winds from human breath. Also, at the scale

Since

mass/volume, a drastic decrease in volume

of

will make you very dense, about 150,000x the

viscous, so being stuck in a drop of water will

density

be like being in chocolate syrup (except for

of

Osmium. white

the

This

dwarf

densest

density (a

star

is

element on

that

a is

on

scale so

earth,

ants,

fluids

will

act

21,000

times

more

with

a

the chocolate). However, you will be able to

dense,

it

walk on water since the surface tension will

collapses in on itself due to gravity). And all

be

the

gravitational

breaking. There is another upside; you will be

acceleration/area) exerted due to this great

very fast, thanks to the Froude number. The

mass on an area as small as a pixel on the

Froude

screen you might be reading this on, will be

force required to make your leg swing divided

way too much for your legs to handle. The

by your weight. By shrinking yourself down and

very few materials on earth like diamond and

keeping your Froude number fixed, you will

carbon fibre will be able to bear such high

take 12 times more steps than usual, and your

pressure.Along with this, the vocal cords on

strides being 66% bigger, will make you 20

this scale will be much smaller, causing the

times faster than average.

pressure

(=

Mass

x

able

to

number

support

is

equal

to

you

the

vibrations having much shorter wavelengths.

Since

frequency

frequency

of

=

your

speed/wavelength, voice

will

be

very

the high

(about 12-26 kHz as compared to the regular 85-180Hz), meaning it will be too high pitched for anyone to comprehend, which won’t really matter, since your body will get crushed due to its inability to support its weight.

Click for an interesting video about this

photon august'19 | p. 26

without

centripetal

Captain America

by Hari Choudhari

Steve

Rogers,

has

Now, what happens when the shield hits a

been holding off bad guys with his vibranium

poor pawn of whatever evil force is trying to

shield since the Second World War, and he’s

stop

had a pretty good track record with it. I mean,

anticlimactic

it even stopped Mjolnir in its tracks. But that

recipient is likely to suffer only bruises and

shield

some

isn’t

aka

just

a

“Captain

defensive

America”,

weapon:

Cap

Cap

this

time

answer

seriously

hurt

around? is:

pride,

not

as

Well,

the

much.

The

its

force

is

chucks it around almost as often, bouncing it

equivalent to that exerted by a professional

off floors and walls and slicing robots in half.

boxer’s punch. Nevertheless, if that blunt rim

But just how good is his shield at being an

of the shield hits a dude in the head, there’s a

offensive

good

weapon?

Let’s

examine

two

chance

he’s

not

waking

up

for

the

aspects: how the shield bounces off things,

foreseeable future.

and what happens when a minor “bad guy”

So, that’s the physics behind what happens

extra gets whacked by it.

when the Captain throws his shield. Though

When objects collide with other objects, their kinetic energy has to be converted into some other form, as the total amount of energy in a collision remains constant by the law of conservation of energy. This can be heat or sound, but there is little evidence of this in actual movie scenarios. The only alternative is that the kinetic energy is transferred into elastic potential energy, which then changes back into kinetic energy – this is the process which causes objects to bounce. The degree to which a substance will bounce this way is determined by its Coefficient of Restitution (COR). Most metals are quite elastic until a point at which they deform too much, and this point is reached at as low as 0.1 metres per second.

However, the Vibranium used in the shield has an extremely high yield strength, dramatically increasing the COR and causing the shield to bounce at high speeds.

we won’t be able to see him in action in any upcoming movies (Rest in Peace), we hope that you have a better understanding of how the First Avenger kicks butt. If you would like to know more, please refer to the videos in the links below.

photon august'19 | p. 27

I AM IRON MAN Is Iron Man’s Suit Possible in Real Life?

With a dramatic conclusion of The Infinity Saga (the first twenty-three movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) with Avengers Endgame, we bid adieu to various childhood heroes, including the likes of Captain America and Iron Man. Moreover, throughout all the emotional responses that sprang up after the conclusion, fans of the MCU couldn't help but reflect back at the 11 years of wonder and excitement that the saga gifted them. Along with all the superhero actions and drama that these movies brought along, however, a fair share of science fiction ideas were unravelled. Magnetic levitation, vibration absorbent metals, time travel, advanced artificial intelligence were all fascinating scientific ideas that were present in the movies, but, personally, the most engaging of the concepts was incidentally the first concept: Tony Stark's suit. Since the release of the first iron man movie, various arguments related to the feasibility of an Iron Man's suit have been taken up. Intrigued, I decided to write a small article on the feasibility of an Iron Man's suit in real life, in terms of physics only.

photon august'19 | p. 28

photon august'19 | p. 29

First off, to keep things simple, I focused on

Unless a system of inertia damping emerged,

the Iron Man's suit used in 'The Avengers', the

there would be no way a person can fly in

Mark 7. The suit could be categorized into

such a suit. In terms of material, iron man's

having

exoskeleton would be most likely made out of

flight,

different

aspects:

the

weapons,

artificial

intelligence

finally,

the

power

source

exoskeleton,

(mainly

the

and

a nickel-titanium alloy called Nitinol. Nitinol is

arc

light enough not to weigh Iron Man down as

reactor).

We

he's flying around in the sky, and it can be

have,

man

reformed after sustaining damage. As for the

for

design of the suit, far more complex designs

humans. He has gone deep into oceans, flown

exist today, so it would be easier to design it,

into

considering advancements in 3D printing and

survive

countless

in

non-suitable

space

objects,

times,

and

with

damage,

been

Stark

almost

seen

iron

environments,

crushed

with

escaping

every

various

with

time.

minimal

Hence,

the

design processes.

Iron man's thrusters enable him to fly around

properties of the exoskeleton must include a

freely,

feature of creating atmospheric pressure for

direction. The jet pack is the closest thing in

the man inside, as well as being exceptionally

real-world

strong

Stark's

Powered by compressed gases or turbojets,

armour must function as a full-pressure space

the simple principle of Newton's Third Law of

suit -- regulating oxygen, temperature and air

Motion,

pressure. Such environmental suits have been

opposite

in

physics

and

durable.

development

In

as

other

early

words,

as

the

1930s.

in

any

angle

science

"Every

in

to

relation

Iron

action

reaction" behind

Man's

has

an

presents

the

to

working

gravity's

thrusters.

equal

itself of

as

and the

jetpacks.

However, the oxygen tanks associated roughly

Meanwhile, in order for an Iron Man suit to

estimate to about 14 to 18 pounds, too heavy

either levitate above the ground or fly, it must

for flight, especially considering long hours.

conserve momentum. It must eject a mass at a

Meanwhile,

velocity such that its own mass will achieve

already

the

been

researchers

at

Technology

are

spacesuit

problem solved:

In

working to

related

on

be

spaceship.

Countermeasure

pressure

Massachusetts

designed

pressurized

of

a

some

other

velocity.

A

very

heavy

rocket

of

slowly moves away from the Earth by expelling

skin-tight

propellant at very high velocity. It takes a lot

in

Gravity

Spacesuit

news,

Institute

worn

The

has

inside

a

of propellant to do this, so we build rockets to

Loading

have stages, so they can also shed the mass

(GLCS)

is

of

propellant

tanks

once

those

tanks

are

designed to put pressure on the bones in an

empty. Hence, if we ever produce a functional

approximation of Earth's gravity. In spite of

Iron Man, that first-generation Iron Man will

such technologies, the exoskeleton would be

move quite slowly and have to stop to refuel

near

or recharge very often.

impossible,

inertia.

The

thanks

to

sudden

the

effect

acceleration

of or

deceleration while flying in the suit would be completely

unsuitable

for

inside.

photon august'19 | p. 30

human

beings

Next,

and

the

most

the

There comes into being, as a result of this

weapons Iron Man's suit possesses. One of the

reaction, a difference in mass of the products

key

its

and

reactants.

of

the

groundbreaking

components

repulsor

of

beams,

interesting

the

Iron

and

so

Man

that's

far,

suit

a

is

kind

This

gets

explained

equation

through

of

Einstein,

technology we may not have anything like for

E=mc2. However, the conditions for nuclear

a very long time (if ever). The repulsors are

fusion to take place are more than 1,000,000

units connected to the power source, to get

Kelvin and 1,000,000 Pascals. Such extreme

their energy, and it can be used as a flight

conditions cannot be generated in any place

source

on the Earth's crust, and definitely not on an

function

as

well

is

as

a

weapon.

propulsion.

The

Its

primary

repulsor

style

of

exoskeleton

of

a

person.

Furthermore,

the

energy is created by taking excess electrons

number of byproducts which would form, and

and

the

turning

them

into

muons

which

can

amount

of

heat

and

light

energy

penetrate deep into the atomic matter, are

produced, would almost surely result in energy

then fed to the hands and chest piece of any

distribution,

iron man suit. The suit then can generate the

Hydrogen bombs, whenever the reactor would

powerful blasts by generating plasma through

be made use of.

an electric current and firing the plasma and

Therefore, to finally answer the question, the

muons,

current

technology

useless

in

by

properties.

utilizing

their

However,

one

electromagnetic of

the

greatest

similar

to

we

relation

to

present-day

possess the

Iron

Man's

be suit.

based on the movie adaptations, would turn

trying

out to be inertia-less generators. Missiles are

between

something very common to today's world but

some

are still heavy enough to prevent the ability to

exoskeleton with regulated pressure, jetpacks

fly to a large extent (providing excess weight).

that

The

weapons,

power

source

that

is

minimize the

cases,

assist

are

and

the

flying,

technology the

latter,

development

and

succeeding.

small

but

However,

and

in

of

an

deadly taking

energy

to develop. It is a tiny device that creates

requirements and the concepts of inertia and

power and supplies energy on a magnitude

momentum deem it nearly impossible to make

unheard

such a suit.

answer

the

questions

the

movies

raised

on

try

the

to

consideration,

the

the

gap

most complicated and the hardest technology

into

question:

is

the

Obviously,

important

underway

present at the heart of the suit is by far the

of.

most

in

the

former like

research

would

However, to

current

of

physical flaws here is that the repulsors, solely

self-sustaining

the

that

source

arc

of

reactor's

arc

reactor by playing on the concept of nuclear fusion.

In

hydrogen,

nuclear is

fusion,

converted

into

matter, helium,

mainly through

literal fusion with another hydrogen atom or molecule.

Pratyush Sahu

photon august'19 | p. 31

Gravity. It's a downer.

Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree one fine day, trying to figure out how gravity works.

AND THEN IT HIT HIM

JOKES! compiled by Shrishti Kulkarni and Pulkit Dalmia

A neut r and asksro,n"Hwaowlksminuctoh afoba r a ink?"

The bartedr nder replies, "For you, no charge." photon august'19 | p. 32

Status Update SNAPSHOTS:

Abhimanyu Ramesh Sathya Grade 12

LIGO, Virgo and other gravitational wave detectors may be the key to unlocking the nature of Dark Matter. A recent study by a team of Japanese researchers suggests that the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) that collide with the mirror + interferometer in a gravitational wave generator could excite them. The data could then be used to detect how detectability of such an interaction. If a method for isolating dark matter signals is developed, new generation GW wave detectors, with their higher sensitivity, could be used to unravel the nature of Dark Matter, which in turn, could enlighten us to the shadowy parts of the Universe’s past, present and future.

You and 389 people liked this.

Leave a comment...

Aryan Gupta Grade 12

Particle physicists will be holding their breath in March, when the Japanese government is expected to announce whether it will host the International Linear Collider (ILC). Over a decade in the making, the ILC is pegged as the successor to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). By colliding electrons with positrons, the 20 km linear collider is designed to study the Higgs boson, which was discovered in 2012, in unprecedented detail. A verdict to build the ILC in Japan was expected in December 2018, but the Japanese government postponed a decision late last year for further deliberations.

You and 407 people liked this.

Leave a comment...

photon august'19 | p. 33

Congratulations to HARI KRISHAN CHOUDHARI GRADE

12C,

TISB

for writing the best submission of Photon#1 May 2019 GALILEO'S

CRUCIFIX

as voted by our readers PHOTON TOP WRITER

Click here to view the top 5 on Medium

photon august'19 | p. 34

PHOTON TOP WRITER

VOTE FOR THE BEST SUBMISSON IT'S

EASY!

CLICK

ON

THE

LINK

BELOW

CLICK HERE WINNER

GETS

A

SHOUTOUT

IN

THE

NEXT

EDITION!

LIKED IT? Send your own submissions to submissions@thephotonmagazine.com

for the next edition

photon august'19 | p. 35

WERNER HEISENBERG

NOT ONLY IS THE UNIVERSE STRANGER THAN WE THINK, IT IS STRANGER THAN WE CAN THINK

editorial board co-founder & editor-in-chief co-founder head of creative design head of marketing head of human resources head of content management correspondents proofreader special thanks

aditya gaur aryan gupta pulkit dalmia nishk sewani hari krishan choudhari rithvik papani shrishti pankaj kulkarni akshath dhama mr. ajay shukla