- ... halt5.1
-
Many computers have a specific instruction to stop processing
instructions or halt. Today programmers never use such instructions
unless they are writing operating systems, but, in the early days of
computing, there were no operating systems and programmers had to
halt the computer when the program completed. The Halting Problem
need have nothing to do with halting. The question will
a program ever do some specific action at any future time
is all that is needed.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... function5.2
- A function has a domain or set
of inputs and a range or set of outputs. For each possible input there
is a unique output. For example
is a function
that adds one to its input
. limiting its domain
to the integers greater than 0 forces its range to
be the integers greater than 1.
A more complex example is the function
that gives the payments on a $100,000 mortgage
from the interest rate. Such a function might have a domain of interest
rates between 3% and 10% and a corresponding limited range of payments.
Many functions like these two examples are computable. One can write a computer
program to compute the output from the output. Mathematical functions need not
be computable. Noncomputable functions can be defined using unsolvable problems
like the Halting Problem.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... Paradox6.1
- The barber paradox concerns a barber who shaves everyone in the town except
those who
shave themselves. If the barber shaves himself then he must be among the exceptions
and cannot shave himself. If he does shave himself that he does not shave himself.
Such a barber cannot exist.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... distance7.1
-
The Planck distance is
or approximately
meters.
Where
is the gravitational
constant,
is Planck's constant divided by
and
is the speed of
light.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ...
digital.7.2
-
The most prominent
attempt to reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics
is string theory. This theory establishes minimum particle sizes to avoid
the domain where the two fundamental theories of physics are incompatible.
One cannot know if string theory is valid because its predictions are impossible to
test with existing or
foreseeable technology. String theory is not a branch of physics. It is mathematical
philosophy. Science requires experiments.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... equation7.3
-
A differential equation describes how a single variable (such as the level of
a lake) changes relative to some other single variable such as time.
A partial differential equation involves the rate of change of multiple
variable relative to other variables.
The wave equation relates change
relative to time to change relative to location.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ...accelerating7.4
- If you are moving 60 miles an hour
and travel for 2 hours you will go 120 miles. If you are accelerating at
20 miles per hour per second and go for three seconds from a standing start
you will be going 60 miles an hour. Your car almost certainly cannot accelerate
that fast but if you have a hot motorcycle it might.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... point7.5
- We understand acceleration in time
from driving.
Acceleration is zero when speed is constant neither increasing or decreasing.
Acceleration across
distance is similar. A flat plane or a uniform slope has zero acceleration. It is
only when the steepness of the hill is changing that there is acceleration
in space. The hill that keeps getting steeper or that bottoms out as you approach
level terrain has acceleration.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... mass7.6
-
Any particle has some energy and thus mass. But some particles like photons that make
up light travel at the speed of light and are said to have no rest mass.
No amount of
energy is sufficient to make a particle that has rest
mass move at the velocity of light. In contrast a particle with
zero rest mass must always move at the speed of light.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... limit7.7
-
Consider a sequence
.
The limit as
approaches
is
. No value in the sequence
ever equals
but each
differs from
by
which gets arbitrarily
close to zero as
goes to
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... differences.7.8
-
The second order difference in time is an acceleration.
To get an average velocity we divide distance by time. If you go 100 miles
in two hours your average velocity is 50 miles per hour. To get an acceleration
we divide the change in velocity by time. If you go from 30 miles per hour
to 60 miles per hour in 10 seconds the acceleration is 3 miles per hour per second.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... behavior.7.9
-
Chaos theory studies the very complex behavior that
can be exhibited by continuous nonlinear systems. These are
usually far more complex than linear systems.
Discretized linear finite difference equations can be made nonlinear
by forcing them to assume only integer values as we did using
the truncation function
. This can make the behavior of
the discretized difference equation for more complex than
the linear differential equation from which it was derived
although it is not chaotic because it is a discrete and
not continuous system.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ...thermodynamics7.10
-
Thermodynamics is the study of heat. Initially heat was thought of as a liquid that
flows. Eventually it was discovered that heat is a measure of the average random motion
of molecules. Thermodynamics studies the macroscopic aspects of heat as if it were a fluid.
It ignores the motion of individual molecules. Thus it is a statistical theory.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... laws7.11
-
We have all heard for every action there is an
equal an opposite reaction. This is an informal statement of the law of conservation
of momentum. Momentum is the product of velocity and mass. Assume a 1000 pound object
traveling at 10 miles an hour smashes head on to a 100 pound object traveling
at 100 miles an hour. The two objects will have equal and opposite momentum.
They will both come to a dead stop. This is required by the conservation of momentum.
If a large truck smashes head on into a massive concrete
building the earth itself (or at least a portion of it connected
to the buildings foundation) will
move to conserve the momentum of the truck. There are many other conservation laws.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... second8.1
-
In contemporary physics the speed of light is assumed to define locality. In general
locality is satisfied if there is any speed that limits the rate at which
effects can propagate.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... reference8.2
-
In special relativity two events are said to be space-like separated
if their separation in space exceeds the distance light can travel in the time
between the two events. The order that such events seem to occur depends on the
inertial frame
of reference. Thus two events, like the measurements in tests of locality
in quantum mechanics,
will occur in a different order in different frames of reference.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ...
8.3
- The
and
functions are
common in physics. For example they give the amplitude of a perfect tone as a
function of time. Even the change in the length of a day over the course of
a year is approximately a
function with the 0 crossings (where the
change in length goes from positive to negative or vice versa) occurring at the
summer and winter solstices. The two functions are identical in shape but start
with different initial values.
and
. Figure 7.3 is
a sine function.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ...
explanation8.4
-
The observation that the photons in a pair, as
used by us, are always found to have different polarization can
not as easily be understood as the fact that the socks in a pair,
as worn by Bertlmann, are always found to have different color[7].
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... symmetric8.5
-
An equation is symmetric in time if
the solution for
is the same
as the solution for
. The fundamental laws of
physics are symmetric in time
with some exceptions.
Time symmetric models are reversible. Reverse the order in
time of the initial conditions and the sequence of states
goes in the opposite direction in time.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... radians8.6
-
Radian is a measurement of angle like degrees.
There are
radians in
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... time8.7
-
The Planck time is
where
is the gravitational constant,
is Planck's constant divided
by
and
is the speed of light.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ... identical8.8
-
The substitution of
for
between the two equations has no effect.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- ...
Joule-seconds.8.9
-
A Joule is unit of energy. One Joule is 0.2388 calories.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.