Physics Frontiers

29/10/2021

21/08/2018

If the future already exists – what physicists call the block universe model – quantum field theory can be explained in purely classical terms; even the Heisenberg uncertainty relation can be derived from classical field theory. And exotic phenomena like quantum entanglement can be explained without invoking nonlocality or indeterminism. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we confront retrocausality: the fascinating theoretical argument that the past and the future may be fixed boundary conditions that together shape the physical reality that we experience.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-07-25T12_27_21-07_00

Jim and Randy look at how quantum mechanics is affected by time. Most importantly, what happens when temporal boundary conditions are used to create standing waves in the wave function of a particle? Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/33

11/08/2018

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics gave us Schrödinger’s cat – the unfortunate feline in a superposition of alive and dead states until we look to see which state the cat is in. This is the literal interpretation of quantum indeterminism. But a competing interpretation asserts that realism and causality can be preserved in quantum mechanics if we apply quantum logic, rather than classical logic, to probabilistic scenarios like the EPR paradox. Join is for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we discuss Robert Griffiths’ fascinating alternative approach to quantum mechanics.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-05-24T04_56_47-07_00

Jim and Randy discuss the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics. The brainchild of Robert Griffiths and with a surprisingly strong set of supporters, Consistent Histories seems to be a strong, logical description of what happens in the quantum world. Show Notes: http://frontiers.p...

05/08/2018

In 1998 astrophysicists discovered an antigravitational acceleration between galaxy clusters, and this unexpected acceleration was quickly attributed to a uniform energy field throughout spacetime dubbed “dark energy.” But a less frequently discussed possibility is that our theory of gravitation, general relativity, is incomplete. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we discuss modifications to general relativity that might explain the dark energy phenomenon… and possibly explain the dark matter phenomenon as well…

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-05-15T18_36_02-07_00

Jim and Randy discuss how modifications to general relativity can be used to mimic the effects of dark energy. They discuss various forms of gravitational theory that can do the job, as well as the field particles that mediate their "fifth force." Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/29

31/07/2018

Is empty space seething with a field of virtual particles, or is that idea just the simplest way to calculate the interactions between matter at quantum scales? For decades the brightest minds in theoretical physics have embraced the first explanation, and cited the Casimir effect as proof of virtual particles popping into and out of existence in empty space. But maybe they’ve be wrong all along. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we explore a new explanation of the Casimir effect that describes the quantum forces between objects purely in terms of interacting wavefunctions.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-04-24T19_43_03-07_00

Jim and Randy review two very convincing papers that make the claim that the Casimir effect is due to materials fluctuations and not the zero point energy. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/28

01/06/2018

Surprisingly, there is no axiomatic formulation of Einstein’s theory of gravitation, the general theory of relativity. So theorists have analyzed the gravitational equivalence principles to glean a deeper understanding of the conceptual structure of the theory to determine what the constraints of a workable theory of gravitation must be in order to conform to our observations. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to examine the theoretical underpinnings of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, and the requirements imposed on any alternative theory of gravity.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-04-14T17_02_35-07_00

Jim talks to Randy about the different ways in which the equivalence principle of general relativity can be formulated. More than just the equivalence of accelerations, the different possible meanings of the equivalence principle mean different things about how gravity works. From weak to strong, fr...

19/05/2018

Imagine if we had a small portable system to produce antimatter on demand to generate power for spaceflight propulsion. It sounds like science fiction, and yet a brilliant NASA physicist published a paper in 2001 proposing exactly that. Exploiting the energy gradient of the Casimir effect between two closely spaced metal plates, Dr. Michael R. LaPointe discovered a theoretical method for using low-energy electrons to create electron-positron pairs from the vacuum of space. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to hear all about this mind-boggling approach for creating antimatter from nothing.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-03-25T12_26_53-07_00

Randy shows Jim an idea for generating antimatter using the Casimir effect that doesn't require a collider. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/26

04/05/2018

It sounds like a riddle: “how do you move without moving, and accelerate without gaining energy?” But that’s the physics of gravitational field propulsion, and it’s consistent with the general theory of relativity. Some of the world’s best theoretical physicists have been exploring this idea, where a stationary craft can move from place to place by distorting spacetime around itself. Join us this time on Physics Frontiers to hear more about this fascinating and counterintuitive idea which, if physically achievable, would throw open the door to the stars and revolutionize global civilization.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-03-15T19_38_50-07_00

Randy introduces Jim to several ways in which people have theorized that gravity can be used to propel an object through space. The slingshot effect is the only proven method here, but people have found many ways that theoretically could induce propulsion taking advantage of non-commutative motions....

30/04/2018

Beyond the range of the periodic table that we all know, nuclear physicists predict another region where superheavy elements become remarkably stable – one model predicts that some of these new isotopes might have half-lives of up to one million years. They call this region of superheavy stable elements “the island of stability,” and researchers at the top nuclear laboratories around the world are just now reaching its outer shores. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to hear about the island of stability, and the technology that we’ll need to reach it for the first time...

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-02-23T20_31_26-08_00

Randy tells Jim about the island of stability: a theoretically predicted oasis of stable nuclear isotopes that researchers keep getting nearer and nearer to discovering. Randy and Jim talk about what they are, how researchers are trying to produce the isotopes, and the theoretical methods that predi...

01/03/2018

Dark energy is the greatest mystery in modern astrophysics. Our best observations indicate that it’s an extremely uniform and weak repulsive gravitational effect that we can only observe at the enormous distances between galaxy clusters. It was independently discovered by two large-scale galaxy recession surveys in 1998, but it was actually first proposed nearly forty years earlier. And so far, all of the explanations offered are fraught with difficulties. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to learn what we know about dark energy, and why it’s still a mystery.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-02-08T19_35_09-08_00

Randy helps Jim get a handle on Dark Energy. Why do we need it? What could it be? What does it have to do with you? How close are we to knowing anything about it? Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/23

24/01/2018

Why does matter resist acceleration? Surprisingly, this simple question at the heart of physics remains unresolved: highly qualified theoretical physicists hold very different views on this subject. Some assert that general relativity explains inertia locally, others believe that inertia is an interaction with the quantum vacuum, and still others believe that Dennis Sciama explained inertia as the gravitational interaction of all the matter in the universe. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we discuss the enduring mystery of the origin of inertial mass.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2018-01-10T19_09_54-08_00

Randy tells Jim about a scheme that uses Mach's Principle - the idea that there is a preferred background frame with respect to the fixed stars - to explain the origin of inertia. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/21

22/01/2018

In 2012, Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek theorized the prospect of a new kind of crystal that could change shape cyclically with perfect space-and-time-translation symmetry, akin to a pendulum clock. Other quantum field theorists at Berkeley refined the notion, and then two teams of physicists at Harvard and the University of Maryland sprang into action and experimentally confirmed the idea in 2017. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to hear all about the amazing and rapid discovery of this new state of matter known as time crystals.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-12-21T19_39_09-08_00

Jim talks to Randy about structures that are periodic in time like crystals are periodic in space. Show notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/20

14/12/2017

Could our universe be a 4-dimensional shadow of a 6-dimensional spacetime, and still conform to all of the physics that we know? One of the world’s most brilliant theoretical physicists, Dr. Itzhak Bars, has discovered that the answer to this question is “yes” if the universe has 2 time dimensions and 4 spatial dimensions that are constrained by a specific symmetry. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to explore one of the most fascinating and challenging theories in physics today, and to consider the implications for the field of metaphysics as well…

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-12-06T09_06_24-08_00

Randy tells Jim about a theory that complements other theories of fundamental physics based upon a phase space symmetry between the 4-position and the 4-momentum of a particle. The upshot of the theory is that there should be a second time dimension and a fourth space dimension, both macroscopic in�...

03/12/2017

Thanks to Einstein we now know that travelling through time is not only possible, but practicable. Every day the global positioning system demonstrates that speed and gravitation alter time precisely as his theories predicted. So time travel into the future is feasible, but what about travel into the past? The German mathematician Kurt Gödel proved that it is possible…if the universe is rotating. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we explore the mind-bending subject of time travel and closed time-like curves...

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-11-23T22_03_15-08_00

Randy and Jim talk about traveling through through time, discussing relativity and, in particular, Kurt Goedel's solution for closed timelike curves in General Relativity.

08/11/2017

We’re constantly awash in a sea of energy in the form of thermal vibrations and acoustic noise, but until recently these chaotic vibrations couldn’t be harnessed to generate much useful electrical power. Now that’s changed: using the elegant principle of bistable resonance, physicists have discovered that we can extract significant levels of energy from chaos. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to learn about stochastic resonance energy harvesting – an emerging technology that may soon allow us to extract useful electrical power directly from the air, water, and matter all around us.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-11-06T12_18_08-08_00

Randy tells Jim about ways in which external vibrations can be used to do useful work in large-scale devices. These processes look at have happens when bistable systems (e.g., a bent cantilever) are subjected to random forcing from the environment.

22/10/2017

Few phenomena in physics are more intriguing than the variety of methods that modern experimentalists employ to make things float. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to learn about five fascinating principles of levitation that are now allowing physicists to defy gravity in laboratories around the world.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-10-21T10_13_01-07_00

Randy shows Jim five different ways in which a body can be levitated: by magnetism, by superconductors, by Lenz' Law, by acoustics, and most recently by thermophoresis.

05/10/2017

Is the entire cosmos awash in a sea of invisible energy? Nikola Tesla thought so. And today a few daring theoretical physicists are pioneering the effort to explain the most exotic characteristics of quantum theory by describing the nature of this universal field of energy and its physical consequences. If they’re right, their theory could revolutionize the energy and transportation sectors around the globe, and perhaps even throw open the door to new forms of spaceflight. On this episode of Physics Frontiers, we’ll investigate the theory of stochastic electrodynamics, one of the most intriguing concepts in modern physics and a rising contender to explain the quantum world.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-10-04T14_26_36-07_00

Randy explains Stochastic Electrodynamics to Jim, the theory that vacuum fluctuations are the cause of quantum mechanical behavior.

15/09/2017

In an exotic twist to the famous double-slit experiment, physicists experimenting with photons traveling through a triple-slit have observed them following an S-shaped trajectory: some photons passing through the left slit curve around the back side and exit the middle slit toward the emitter, before curving back around and passing through the right slit and ultimately striking the detection screen on the other side. Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers as we explore plasmon interactions in quantum mechanics, and how they facilitate one of the strangest observations in modern physics.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-09-14T11_03_13-07_00

Jim and Randy discuss strange trajectories observed in triple slit experiments with metallic plates. Photons seem to pass through one slit, come back through the middle slit, and out the third due to their interactions with surface plasmons. There are implications in this experiment about the way in...

04/09/2017

What is the nature of time, and why do we experience it in the forward direction? The physical laws are time-symmetric: they work perfectly well in both time directions, so why do we experience time moving forward but not backward? In 2014 a group of theoretical physicists published a fascinating paper that describes an entirely new way of looking at time. In their model, the physics of cosmic evolution driven by gravitation can be described by dimensionless factors like complexity, structure, and information – and these factors define a “forward” arrow of time. Tune in to this episode of Physics Frontiers to hear about this intriguing new perspective on the nature of time and cosmic evolution…which suggests that time would come to a stop at the moment of maximum complexity in the universe…

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-08-20T14_15_32-07_00

Jim and Randy discuss a cosmological theory that purports to find an explanation for the arrow of time in gravitational theory based on the shape and distribution of matter and how it evolves.

02/07/2017

Over the last century, a few troubling mysteries have appeared in cosmology: the mechanism driving the inflationary epoch following the Big Bang remains unresolved, and the dark matter and dark energy phenomena have yet to be satisfactorily explained. All three of these mysteries may suggest that Einstein’s general theory of relativity is not the final word on gravitation. So this week on Physics Frontiers, Jim and I discuss the parameters of any new gravitational theory that seeks to successfully describe these pressing modern mysteries, in addition to replicating the many triumphs of general relativity. Join us this week to hear all about the many fascinating and proven aspects of gravity, as well as the remaining puzzle pieces that theorists hope to explain with alternative gravity theories.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-06-30T19_44_49-07_00

In this episode Jim and Randy talk about how to evaluate alternative gravity theories. What sort of things do we want them to explain, what experiments do they have to predict, and what theoretical requirements do they have to meet. This is in some ways a continuation of Episode 9 - f(R) Theories of...

06/06/2017

Can Einstein’s theory of gravitation be modified to explain dark matter, dark energy, and cosmic inflation? Theorists had some success modeling the flat galactic rotation curves, typically attributed to dark matter, using a toy model called MoND (Modified Newtonian Dynamics). So in recent years they’ve been taking another look at Einstein’s field equation to see if modifications to the Ricci scalar can yield an equation that produces enhanced gravitational effects at the galactic scale as well as cosmological accelerations. Join us with this episode of Physics Frontiers to learn about these intriguing efforts to explain the most daunting mysteries in modern physics by re-writing Einstein's greatest achievement.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-06-02T11_13_31-07_00

Jim and Randy discuss gravitational theories that modify general relativity by changing the action using a polynomial dependence on the Ricci scalar. Although not physically motivated, some of these theories produce effects similar to those of dark matter, dark energy, and cosmological constants.

28/04/2017

What are the latest theoretical and experimental developments with the Casimir effect, and are vacuum fluctuations physical, or simply a convenient model for calculating the effects of quantum noise in the fields of matter? On this episode of Physics Frontiers, we explore some of the surprising discoveries that physicists have made unraveling the strange dynamics of mechanical components so small that they can’t even be seen through an optical microscope. And along the way we consider some of the fundamental mysteries of quantum field theory, as applied physics enters the realm of nanotechnology…and approaches exotic new possibilities like quantum levitation.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-04-27T15_59_41-07_00

Jim and Randy discuss how vacuum fluctuations produce the van der Waals forces and the Casimir effect. Van der Waals forces are factors in atomic bonds and the Casimir effect produces an attractive force between nanoscale objects. The claim is that vacuum fluctuations -- the production and annihilat...

16/03/2017

What if we told you that there’s a novel theoretical physics model that can explain dark matter and dark energy, and the cosmic inflation mystery and the baryogenesis problem, via one simple and plausible postulate? Well, here it is. CERN theoretical physicist Dragan Hajdukovic has published a series of fascinating papers that explore the cosmological consequences of a simple and radical idea: the notion that antimatter may fall upward in a gravitational field. And while physicists at the Large Hadron Collider are striving to make the first definitive experimental test to find out whether antihydrogen atoms fall up or down in the Earth’s gravitational field, Dr. Hajdukovic has shown that if antimatter does turn out to have a negative gravitational charge, the two biggest mysteries in physics today, dark matter and dark energy, would be simultaneously solved. Tune in to this intriguing episode of Physics Frontiers to hear how this tantalizing new theory could overhaul our understanding of the cosmos.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-03-14T15_18_42-07_00

Randy discusses what the Cosmological implications of a negative gravitational mass would be with Jim. If there were a negative gravitational mass (as opposed to inertial mass), then every time that an electron-positron pair was created in the vacuum, that would create a gravitational dipole. This i...

19/02/2017

General Relativity for the Experimentalist

Did you know that physicists have known how to create an antigravitational field effect for over 50 years, but the engineering is simply beyond our current technological means? Brilliant physicist and renowned author Robert L. Forward wrote several research papers for Hughes Research Laboratories beginning in the early 1960s, that explored this idea and many other fascinating possibilities on the horizon of human capabilities, which may one day open the door for human interstellar spaceflight. Join us with this episode of Physics Frontiers to learn more about the tantalizing prospects of applied general relativity.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-02-14T10_59_28-08_00

Randy shares some of his favorite papers with Jim: papers on general relativity by engineer and science fiction author Robert L. Forward on how general relativity could be used in a terrestrial environment, including proposals for devices and materials. These papers are "General Relativity for the E...

27/01/2017

In 2006, a brilliant pair of physicists discovered a simple and intuitive experiment: droplets of oil bouncing across a vibrating tray of oil replicate the quantum behavior of the famous double-slit experiment – a phenomenon which, we’ve been taught in school, has no explanation in classical physics. Yves Couder and Emmanuel Fort proved that this long-held assumption is wrong. And their experiments offer a powerful demonstration in support of a leading alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics: the de Broglie-Bohm theory, which demystifies our understanding of quantum mechanics. On this episode of Physics Frontiers, “Pilot Wave Hydrodynamics,” Jim and I discuss the startling results of these elegant experiments, and how this discovery could have changed the historical development of quantum physics over the past century…and how it’s changing the future today.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-01-20T11_24_28-08_00

Randy and Jim discuss a physical analogy to quantum mechanics consisting of a droplet of fluid bouncing off of the waves in a similarly composed fluid that were generated by the droplet's own bounces. The analogy is very close to the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics.

21/01/2017

Phononics: The birth of a solid-state vibration technology

The arrival of electronic technology in the late 19th century spawned everything from electric cars to global wireless telephone networks – and we tend to assume that harnessing the electron is the only way to achieve our modern technological capabilities. But the rapidly advancing science of phononics is pointing the way to an entirely different form of technology that will one day achieve many of the same effects by harnessing the vibrational energy all around us, all the time, in the form of phonons – and open up many new possibilities as-yet unimagined.

Join us for this episode of Physics Frontiers to get a glimpse of the new possibilities on the horizon as physicists learn to harness the humble and yet ubiquitous unit of molecular vibration, the phonon.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2017-01-04T16_37_44-08_00

Randy tells Jim about the emerging field of Phononics: using quantum particles of heat in materials for information processing in advanced materials.

21/01/2017

Gravitoelectromagnetism: the physics of a gravitational technology

The fascinating principles of gravitational field manipulation have been known since renowned physicist Oliver Heaviside first published a mathematical treatment of the idea in 1893. But even today many physics enthusiasts remain unaware of this breathtaking advancement in our understanding of gravity that may one day radically expand the arena of human technological capabilities. Academically established within Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and experimentally proven by NASA’s Gravity Probe B satellite, the physics of gravitoelectromagnetism points the way toward dizzying new possibilities like time control and manned interstellar spaceflight. Tune in to this episode of Physics Frontiers to hear about the phenomena of gravitomagnetism and gravitoelectric induction – transformative physical principles that remain beyond our grasp, but not beyond our understanding.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2016-12-06T13_15_07-08_00

Randy talks to Jim about gravitoelectromagnetism. Based on the similarity between Newtonian gravity and electrostatics, there should be a second gravitational field,the gravitomagnetic field. What are the implications of the existence of such a field, and how large are those effects?

21/01/2017

Is quantum theory truly mysterious? Is Schrödinger’s cat simultaneously alive and dead until we look inside the box? Do photons and electrons in the double-slit experiment really exist in a quantum superposition of states, covering all possible trajectories after they leave the emitter and until they strike the detection screen? The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics says “yes” to these questions, but another model of quantum behavior says “no.” On this episode of Physics Frontiers, Jim and I discuss the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave theory, which offers a compelling and intuitive alternative interpretation of quantum mechanical experiments that appear to defy our common sense notions of reality.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2016-11-15T11_41_17-08_00

Jim talks to Randy about the pilot wave interpretation of quantum mechanics, which separates the particle and wave behavior of a non-relativistic quantum particle into that of a particle moving in and exciting a quantum mechanical medium.

21/01/2017

Move over Einstein, make room for…Einstein?

100 years after Albert Einstein published his revolutionary theory of gravity, General Relativity, Caltech professor Carver Mead has discovered a new vector calculus model of gravitation that makes nearly identical predictions to Einstein's famous theory of gravity, but challenges its most fundamental precept: the curvature of spacetime. How did Dr. Carver Mead do it? By examining Einstein’s own early work toward a new theory of gravitation, and completing it.

The theory is called G4v for “four-vector-potential gravitation,” and it formulates gravity in the same mathematical language as quantum physics – opening the door for theoretical physicists to find the Holy Grail of modern physics: the unified field theory.

Dr. Jim Rantschler and I discuss this thrilling development in theoretical physics in the premiere episode of our new podcast Physics Frontiers. We hope that physics buffs will enjoy our discussion, and our upcoming episodes about gravitoelectromagnetism, the de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory, phononics, and many other breakthrough physics concepts that revolutionize our understanding of this majestic cosmos.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/physicsfrontiers-rantschler/episodes/2016-10-31T12_22_32-07_00

Randy talks to Jim about Carver Mead's G4V, a formulation of gravitation combining the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass with a vector potential formulation of gravitation (a 4-vector form, with the usual gravitational potential in the temporal component). Notes: Carver Mead's Lecture t...