tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post1089842305537394155..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Your g is my e – Has time come for a physics notation standard?Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-59166071501745527832015-02-19T08:22:07.185-05:002015-02-19T08:22:07.185-05:00So is IUPAP not doing its job, or are people just ...So is IUPAP not doing its job, or are people just not paying attention to them?<br /><br />To the best of my knowledge we chemists do as we're told by IUPAC - even if we do grumble about it on occasion.Jens Knudsen (Sili)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14078875730565068352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-58305947212154793362015-01-13T07:47:35.052-05:002015-01-13T07:47:35.052-05:00Perhaps it is worth mentioning a symbol should not...Perhaps it is worth mentioning a symbol should not be so complicated it is hard to divide in parts like a long number hard to read. But this project may not be doable unless we get more advanced physics for the simple fact some symbols contain a lot of information but little meaning and some concentrated meaning but little information. Is there an ideal unique symbol in between? L. Edgar Ottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00525169618204198073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-38831354291636434602015-01-10T01:53:55.657-05:002015-01-10T01:53:55.657-05:00Alice,
Another attempted solution.
"The Ger...Alice,<br /><br />Another attempted solution.<br /><br />"The Germans have a standard for pretty much everything from toilets over sleeping bags to funeral service." - Bee<br /><br />"The Germans have a standard for pretty much everything [starting] from toilets [extending to] sleeping bags to [including] funeral service." - Me<br /><br /><br /><br />The analogy from music arehushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16176588791118304829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87134268819151496022015-01-07T18:34:36.476-05:002015-01-07T18:34:36.476-05:00Standardizing actually sounds like a good idea, so...Standardizing actually sounds like a good idea, so this is more of a devil's advocate position.<br /><br />The 'dark' side (if there is one) would be that physics is not engineering. Settling on a certain set of standards could be limiting to those seeking to create new, even unconsciously. Tom Andersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17562906116020498110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10816893985740038542015-01-06T04:13:49.638-05:002015-01-06T04:13:49.638-05:00Phil,
the directives in English are highly ideomat...Phil,<br />the directives in English are highly ideomatic.<br />Through eventually became taught as a sense of completion, the issue avoided.<br />Conceptually what then is the logic of setting such a word as a standard for the problem is not lost in the translation.<br />Trans- means across or beyond. Not used but could be for some space sense of over or hyper.<br />Subscripts rather than L. Edgar Ottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00525169618204198073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-49587042350474552392015-01-06T03:10:12.849-05:002015-01-06T03:10:12.849-05:00"But if not "over" then what is the...<i>"But if not "over" then what is the correct word for the items in the middle of the list? Isn't "to" the right word to use at the end?"</i><br /><br />One can use "to" both for the middle and for the end items, as you have it now. Another possibility is "through". There is a slight difference in meaning, though. For example, "to&Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-54668730457702180922015-01-05T12:58:28.980-05:002015-01-05T12:58:28.980-05:00Authors and referees are lazy if they write and pu...Authors and referees are lazy if they write and publish articles where symbols aren't defined.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09427796516109205835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-90698180535667928302015-01-05T11:45:30.889-05:002015-01-05T11:45:30.889-05:00Jim,
Thanks. Indeed, using different fonts is a g...Jim,<br /><br />Thanks. Indeed, using different fonts is a good idea! I am afraid though it would work badly in handwritten form. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19881106948436220992015-01-05T11:44:31.977-05:002015-01-05T11:44:31.977-05:00Phillip: Thanks, I've fixed that. But if not &...Phillip: Thanks, I've fixed that. But if not "over" then what is the correct word for the items in the middle of the list? Isn't "to" the right word to use at the end? Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-4566110590429325582015-01-05T07:04:16.330-05:002015-01-05T07:04:16.330-05:00orry, should have read further before correcting y...orry, should have read further before correcting your "typo".<br /><br />Standards? SI is one, which is why f is frequency and W is energy.<br /><br />In cosmology, some people have commented that my use of lambda instead of Omega_lambda looks old. Their old is my classic. :-) Actually, in many contexts, symbols without subscripts are better. As long as it is defined, and doesn't Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10726213724971205862015-01-05T07:02:38.259-05:002015-01-05T07:02:38.259-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10460896363841576782015-01-05T06:55:59.765-05:002015-01-05T06:55:59.765-05:00"The Germans have a standard for pretty much ...<i>"The Germans have a standard for pretty much everything from toilets over sleeping bags to funeral service."</i><br /><br />Lost in translation. The German "über", usually "over", should be translated as "to" here. Even in Germany, the sleeping bag is usually not under the toilet. :-)<br />Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-24741957535863689702015-01-05T06:53:32.182-05:002015-01-05T06:53:32.182-05:00"maknig am eelphnat out of a muose"
Som...<i>"maknig am eelphnat out of a muose"</i><br /><br />Some readers might be confused; that's not German, that's a typo for "making an elephant out of a mouse", i.e. "making a mountain out of a mole-hil".<br />Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-46055934108526098662015-01-05T02:19:17.466-05:002015-01-05T02:19:17.466-05:00Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübert...<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/03/indfleischetikettierungsberwachungsaufgabenbertragungsgesetz-word-germany" rel="nofollow">Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz?</a>Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-28942788141323504212015-01-05T02:15:32.055-05:002015-01-05T02:15:32.055-05:00"Büschelauszugskraftprüfung" is as of no..."Büschelauszugskraftprüfung" is as of now my new favorite to illustrate how the German language piles words together. Good bye "Dampfschifffahrtskapitän".<br /><br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14479459346584756683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-3910226817764483802015-01-04T22:48:08.244-05:002015-01-04T22:48:08.244-05:00Perhaps we should organize it around "dimensi...Perhaps we should organize it around "dimensional analysis".<br /><br />2pi in the equations are left indeterminate.<br /><br />A differential itself has dimension.<br /><br />Exponential values usually result in a dimensionless constant somewhere.<br /><br />It could be argued a dimensionless constant is exact.<br /><br />The system of units is not the issue as they can be finer L. Edgar Ottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00525169618204198073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-8450712557973615092015-01-04T15:31:27.831-05:002015-01-04T15:31:27.831-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.JimVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10198704789965278981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39715463353647280552015-01-04T15:31:27.144-05:002015-01-04T15:31:27.144-05:00The issue of not having enough letters for the dif...The issue of not having enough letters for the different uses of nu (which is Poisson's Ratio - I am an engineer) might be solved by using different, distinctive fonts and/or colors for different disciplines.<br /><br />If someone else hasn't already discussed this, I may have made my first and last technical contribution to this blog. (I read it mostly for the good writing, not because IJimVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10198704789965278981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81143281323844183182015-01-04T00:16:47.543-05:002015-01-04T00:16:47.543-05:00I would also like to suggest standard units, more ...I would also like to suggest standard units, more so than SI. Something like Planck time, length could be the basis.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_unitsRaahul Kumarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18144388090492230247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-84609902108140009102015-01-04T00:14:26.755-05:002015-01-04T00:14:26.755-05:00It's long past time that mathematics also, alo...It's long past time that mathematics also, along with physics had standard notation, in a computer language. APL was the last try along these lines, but a custom notation like what Agda supports in Haskell could be the basis of a modern try.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agda_%28programming_language%29<br /><br />It's not just physics notation that's an awful pain, maths andRaahul Kumarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18144388090492230247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-74067519829324501572015-01-03T23:12:49.903-05:002015-01-03T23:12:49.903-05:00Alice,
I read the notation - the musical score sh...Alice,<br /><br />I read the notation - the musical score sheets - to your music.<br /><br />I 'heard' the music in my head.<br /><br />A physical implementation to your music - besides the conventional physical implementations that comes from listening and playing your music or doing your physics.<br /><br />All three physical implementations were different.<br /><br />Standardize all hushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16176588791118304829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-33612923141172235192015-01-03T20:14:23.474-05:002015-01-03T20:14:23.474-05:00Greek lowercase "nu" is frequency in phy...Greek lowercase "nu" is frequency in physics in hertz (Hz), degrees of freedom in statistics, Poisson's ratio in material science, a neutrino, kinematic viscosity of liquids, stoichiometric coefficient in chemistry, dimension of nullspace in mathematics. Lowercase "tau" is at least 21 quantities.Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-66660219277567852982015-01-03T19:08:12.540-05:002015-01-03T19:08:12.540-05:00That idea was actually explored a lot - the USSR a...That idea was actually explored a lot - the USSR at one moment in time tried to create its very own nomenclature but had wisely given up.<br /><br />There are many issues and one of them is the size of the available namespace - there's not enough Greek and Latin letters for everything interesting even in the mainstream physics. Does Greek letter 'nu' mean viscosity or is it molar Cyberaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03129241076743498073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-31683555350574872272015-01-03T16:50:42.958-05:002015-01-03T16:50:42.958-05:00I suppose that electrons have a negative potential...I suppose that electrons have a negative potential energy. Am I correct?nemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07365330980872106443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69187962660437289082015-01-03T16:26:20.343-05:002015-01-03T16:26:20.343-05:00"Ben Franklin could have assigned positive el..."Ben Franklin could have assigned positive electrons, but he didn't. Current flows opposite to electrons. Nobody is documented having mistaken nomenclature and made a discovery because of it." <br /><br />And, I suppose, it will never happen.<br /><br />nemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07365330980872106443noreply@blogger.com