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Questions tagged [specific-reference]

Use this tag for questions seeking a single specific paper or a short, non-open-ended list of references, like "What paper first discovered X?", "Where can I find the original derivation of X?", or "What is the canonical source for X?" etc. Also for requests for hard-to-find electronic copies of resources when the exact reference is known. NOT TO BE USED for generic requests for resources (use [resource-recommendation] for that).

138 votes
2 answers
35k views

Reading the Feynman lectures in 2012

The Feynman lectures are universally admired, it seems, but also a half-century old. Taking them as a source for self-study, what compensation for their age, if any, should today's reader undertake? ...
119 votes
6 answers
8k views

What are the justifying foundations of statistical mechanics without appealing to the ergodic hypothesis?

This question was listed as one of the questions in the proposal (see here), and I didn't know the answer. I don't know the ethics on blatantly stealing such a question, so if it should be deleted or ...
Logan M's user avatar
  • 4,504
39 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why are pear-shaped nuclei possible?

In a recent question, Ben Crowell raised an observation which really puzzled me. I obtained a partial answer by looking in the literature, but I would like to know if it's on the right track, and a ...
Emilio Pisanty's user avatar
30 votes
3 answers
10k views

Origin of Ladder Operator methods

Ladder operators are found in various contexts (such as calculating the spectra of the harmonic oscillator and angular momentum) in almost all introductory Quantum Mechanics textbooks. And every book ...
Comp_Warrior's user avatar
  • 1,201
29 votes
24 answers
52k views

Books that every physicist should read

Inspired by How should a physics student study mathematics? and in the same vein as Best books for mathematical background?, although in a more general fashion, I'd like to know if anyone is ...
24 votes
1 answer
4k views

A reading list to build up to the spin statistics theorem

Wikipedia's article on the spin-statistics theorem sums it up thusly: In quantum mechanics, the spin-statistics theorem relates the spin of a particle to the particle statistics it obeys. The spin ...
Niel de Beaudrap's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
2k views

Minimum viscosity of liquids

In a lecture by Purcell he mentions that he notices that there aren't any liquids with viscosities much less than that of water, even though they go up seemingly unbounded. In an endnote (endnote 1 in ...
genneth's user avatar
  • 8,729
22 votes
6 answers
2k views

Classic Literature in Quantum Gravity?

I've seen it said in various places that a major reason people like string theory as a theory of quantum gravity is that it does a good job of matching our prejudices about how a quantum gravity ...
user1504's user avatar
  • 16.5k
19 votes
3 answers
323 views

Paper listing known Seiberg-dual pairs of ${\cal N}=1$ gauge theories

Is there a nice list of known Seiberg-dual pairs somewhere? There are so many papers from the middle 1990s but I do not find comprehensive review. Could you suggest a reference? Seiberg's original ...
Yuji's user avatar
  • 3,612
16 votes
3 answers
2k views

Reference request: Susskind-Glogower original paper

I'm trying to find Susskind and Glogower's original paper, L. Susskind and J. Glogower. Quantum mechanical phase and time operator. Physics 1 (1964) 49-61 where they propose their exponential and ...
Emilio Pisanty's user avatar
16 votes
4 answers
2k views

Where can I find the full derivation of Helfrich's shape equation for closed membranes?

I have approximately 10 papers that claim that, from the equation for shape energy: $$ F = \frac{1}{2}k_c \int (c_1+c_2-c_0)^2 dA + \Delta p \int dV + \lambda \int dA$$ one can use "methods of ...
Samuel Reid's user avatar
16 votes
4 answers
370 views

To what extent can one recover plane waves from the Airy eigenfunctions of a linear potential as the field is turned off?

Consider a single massive particle in one dimension under the action of a static linear potential, with the hamiltonian $$ \hat H=\frac{\hat p^2}{2}+\hat{x}F_0. $$ The eigenstate at energy $E$ is, ...
Emilio Pisanty's user avatar
16 votes
0 answers
7k views

Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model by Matthew Schwartz - Solution's manual [closed]

Is there a way I can find a solution's manual for Matthew Schwartz's "Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model" book?
15 votes
2 answers
655 views

Possible research implications of proof of John Cardy's a-theorem in QFT

According to this recent article in Nature magazine, John Cardy's a-theorem may have found a proof. Question: What would the possible implications be in relation to further research in QFT? ...
UGPhysics's user avatar
  • 679
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Fourier Methods in General Relativity

I am looking for some references which discuss Fourier transform methods in GR. Specifically supposing you have a metric $g_{\mu \nu}(x)$ and its Fourier transform $\tilde{g}_{\mu \nu}(k)$, what does ...
Kyle's user avatar
  • 1,424

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