Browsing Archive: May, 2018

Feynman Diagrams

Posted by on Friday, May 11, 2018, In : Particle Physics 
Among physicists, there is a popular story told and retold about a pair of lectures that were given at a conference in 1948 that demonstrates the brilliance of Richard Feynman. How much of it is true and how much has been embellished to build up the legend is unknown, but it is still an entertaining and information anecdote.

Since the development of quantum mechanics in the 1920s and 1930s there had been an unsolved problem regarding the proper treatment of particle interactions. The laws of q...
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Path Integrals

Posted by on Friday, May 11, 2018, In : Particle Physics 
In honour of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Richard Feynman, I will today present a very basic overview of one of the great ideas of modern physics which was developed and popularized by Feynman. And the first part of that theory is the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics.

By now quantum mechanics is firmly established as a confirmed and proven theory of nature. Even popular society has come to embrace some of the stranger aspects of quantum theory (though unfortunately they ...

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Happy Birthday Mr. Feynman

Posted by on Friday, May 11, 2018,


I do not normally celebrate celebrity birthdays and anniversaries, since the focus on this series of articles is on the principles of science and the laws of nature. However I do feel that today's anniversary warrants an exception to this general rule. It was one century ago today that Richard Feynman entered the world and would go on to change physics forever. 

Although never reaching the same level of popular recognition as Einstein or Newton or Hawking, in many ways Richard Feynman was grea...

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Dominion Astrophysical Centenary

Posted by on Sunday, May 6, 2018, In : Astronomy 
Today marks the anniversary of one of the biggest events in local astronomy history, and probably in the history of science in Canada. It was exactly one century ago today that the Plaskett telescope at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory on Little Saanich Mountain in my hometown of Victoria,British Columbia, first collected light from the stars and became the second largest telescope in the world.

For those who haven't had a chance to see the telescope, it is an amazing piece of equipment ...
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About Me


Dr. Chris Bird I am a theoretical physicist & mathematician, with training in electronics, programming, robotics, and a number of other related fields.

   

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