Applications of Classical Physics

srean · 2025-05-11T21:21:28 1746998488

I will probably date myself with this comment, but in my highschool days there used to be this TV series called the Mechanical Universe produced by Caltech. It was so fantastically good, perhaps peak pedagogy for its time.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8_xPU5epJddRABXqJ5h5G0dk...

octed · 2025-05-11T17:53:39 1746986019

For those who would like a print version, this manuscript eventually got published as Modern Classical Physics https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691159027/mo...

mhh__ · 2025-05-11T19:57:48 1746993468

I was weighing up (...) buying a copy of this the other day, in a physical bookshop. The thing was so big I couldn't actually buy it.

kurthr · 2025-05-11T22:11:01 1747001461

There has always been commentary that the size (over 1300 pages) of the General Rel book Gravitation by Meisner Thorne and Wheeler was done for demonstration purposes. Apparently, modern versions are only 2.5" thick which leads me to believe they must be on incredibly thin paper. I remember it being about 4-5".

https://www.amazon.com/Gravitation-Charles-W-Misner/dp/06911...

Maybe tome size a Kip thing?

mhh__ · 2025-05-12T00:39:40 1747010380

The thing with MTW is that it's so big that it's quite hard to really mull over it (for me at least).

it's a book that I can imagine reading a lot in a very quiet world (i.e. basically a dorm or library before phones or computers) but it's very hard to actually get my teeth into it without that.

kurthr · 2025-05-12T01:30:03 1747013403

Yeah, unless you're taking a class like ph236 covering the material it's just absurd.

I hadn't realized it, but it looks like this new book is for ph136 the junior level (1st year grad) general rel prep class.

https://www.its.caltech.edu/~esp/ph136b/text.html

mhh__ · 2025-05-12T02:25:22 1747016722

"General relativity for the gifted amateur" just came out by the way. I suspect an instant classic. I am very rusty so shall be going through it.

cshimmin · 2025-05-11T21:58:09 1747000689

Interesting that they changed the author order to put Kip Thorne first... marketing?

momoschili · 2025-05-11T22:27:30 1747002450

I just looked through the diffraction chapter and some chapters I'm much less familiar with. This is an incredible ~graduate level text for these subjects. I've been looking for something like this for a while! Thanks!

reader9274 · 2025-05-11T22:32:47 1747002767

Skimmed through chapter 1. That sounds like the way I was taught this subject in high school, nothing revolutionary. Not sure why they're talking so much about its brilliance

dawnofdusk · 2025-05-11T22:50:54 1747003854

You learned about stress tensors and PDEs in high school?

zokier · 2025-05-11T21:25:42 1746998742

Interesting that relativity is included here; to me it's one of the main things separating modern physics from classical.

dawnofdusk · 2025-05-11T22:56:46 1747004206

Typically non-relativistic and non-quantum is called "Newtonian". Classical is just for anything which is not quantized, and so far no one knows how to quantize general relativity.

matheist · 2025-05-11T21:45:51 1746999951

I think in modern physics "classical" often means "not quantum", rather than "pre-modern".

xqcgrek2 · 2025-05-11T19:40:43 1746992443

For an idea of how far the average US physics education has been dumbed-down in the past three decades, I doubt a 3rd year US-educated physics graduate student could pass a test on any of the chapters.

TimorousBestie · 2025-05-11T21:23:03 1746998583

I don’t think this is very accurate. Classical fluid dynamics is a dying art, yes, but classical mechanics and electromagnetics are still a huge part of the curriculum.

momoschili · 2025-05-11T22:33:36 1747002816

The vast majority of US grad students already pass tests on chapters 1-9 (the ones that are taught) before they even begin their "true" graduate career (aka their "masters"). Most graduate E&M (Jackson) and Thermo/Stat (Landau) mech classes cover their individual topics to an even greater level of detail than these materials.

As for the uncovered subjects, it turns out quantum mechanics occupies a large space of the "new physics" that graduate students are trained to do.

There are definitely an incredible amount of utility and knowledge to be gained from the classical field theories, and obviously many outstanding and new problems that I think need more attention as well. At the same time let's not understate the utility of quantum mechanics that most grad students are specializing in.

You are speaking out of turn.

xqcgrek2 · 2025-05-11T22:44:22 1747003462

sounds like you haven't visited a top-ranked physics department in a while

kurthr · 2025-05-11T22:16:33 1747001793

With or without a LLM "partner"?

dawnofdusk · 2025-05-11T22:48:51 1747003731

Not really dumbed down, just that it prioritizes quantum physics instead of classical. One can debate whether this is a good set of priorities but it's flippant to say a curriculum focused on quantum mechanics is dumber than one focused on fluids and elasticity/continuum mechanics.

AIPedant · 2025-05-11T23:06:29 1747004789

A lot of modern research in classical mechanics is typically covered by applied math and/or mechanical engineering departments, sometimes also applied physics or engineering science. Magnetohydrodynamics is relevant for a lot of proper academic physicists, but by no means all of them. Just a consequence of how academia specialized, for better or worse.

slyfox125 · 2025-05-11T21:22:04 1746998524

We are victims of our success.

dave333 · 2025-05-11T18:23:50 1746987830

[flagged]

macintux · 2025-05-11T18:33:11 1746988391

Well, that sounds legit.

> Many so-called mainstream physicists who believe in quantum theory dismiss your theory as pseudoscience. What is Mills Grand Unified Theory of Classical Physics (GUTCP) underlying the SunCell® that harnesses the new, pollution-free primary power source based on forming Hydrinos®?

martinpw · 2025-05-11T18:56:56 1746989816

Classic scam to separate gullible wealthy investors from their money - delivering a revolutionary product real soon now - for the past 35 years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power

omneity · 2025-05-11T18:48:22 1746989302

For me it’s the double question marks that showed me how serious they are:

> Q: What is the founding principle of Mills GUT-CP??

nathan_compton · 2025-05-11T18:48:07 1746989287

This purely classical model doesn't make any fucking sense.

dave333 · 2025-05-11T18:59:31 1746989971

[flagged]

nathan_compton · 2025-05-11T19:20:00 1746991200

Oh I don't know, the one that predicts the numbers correctly in a simple, transparent way everyone can apply, especially when compared to the ramblings of a weirdo trying to sell something?

If you can find the place on this website where he demonstrates the calculation that gives the energy levels of the hydrogen atom or the band gap of a metal, please show me.

gus_massa · 2025-05-12T01:42:14 1747014134

Getting the energy levels of Hydrogen with a semiclasical method is not difficult. It's the Bohr atom with some disguise. Helium is hard.

mhh__ · 2025-05-11T19:58:12 1746993492

There is no spooky action at a distance as per se

bomba_tom · 2025-05-11T18:41:49 1746988909

This (brilliant light power) is generally believed to be fraud and/or pseudo science. And the founder (Randall Mills) has been around for over 30 years, collecting money, never producing anything meaningful. So be cautious.

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