5 ms·

so many threads on hacker news get voted to the top without any comments at all. usually you're supposed to read the article, but in this case i doubt anyone is

by dmead 13y ago

so many threads on hacker news get voted to the top without any comments at all. usually you're supposed to read the article, but in this case i doubt anyone is really capable of understanding it. so in conclusion, aside from this one the article has the appropriate number of comments.

gaze 13y ago
this is all very standard stuff for a physicist. Any first or second year grad student should have an easy time digesting this.
- logicallee 13y ago
  "Pshaw, even the most dimwitted individual should understand this, provided they have a BS in physics, were accepted to grad school, and are in their first or second year."
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - pja 13y ago
    Nah, this is undergrad physics these days. 3rd or 4th year undergrad physics admittedly :)
    - gaze 13y ago
      Relativistic quantum mechanics typically isn't covered during undergrad. Maybe touched on briefly.
      - tfgg 13y ago
        I don't know what university you went to, but it definitely was on my course. Second or third year. The idea that you wouldn't cover relativistic QM in undergrad physics is pretty absurd, and probably indicative of how shallow American undergrad degrees are.
        sanderjd 13y ago
        Defensive American undergraduate educated anecdote: my degree was in computer science and I studied this third year. Can't speak for anybody else.
        pja 13y ago
        Computational QM is a thing these days :)
        sanderjd 13y ago
        Yep, didn't mean to suggest the course is irrelevant to computer scientists. I meant to imply that if they're teaching it to CS students third year, presumably physics students are learning it earlier and/or in more depth.
        fretless 13y ago
        There are ~2,500 institutions in the U.S granting bachelors degrees, and you're happy to make sweeping generalizations about all of them.
      - pja 13y ago
        Cambridge Physics Part II (third year of the Natural Sciences tripos) includes relativistic QM as a core 3rd year topic. The Cambridge Physics course is fairly hard core of course, but I would expect such a course to be part of any serious Physics undergraduate degree in the UK.
ig1 13y ago
I had a quick scan, seems pretty readable, you can skip the maths if you can't follow it and still get a sense of the work from the written material.
Maro 13y ago
I scanned it and I think it's awesome. I'll go back to it later probably. Having said that I wouldn't recommend anyone to read this. Instead, there's this awesome gem, which I have read multiple times. Don't believe anyone who says it's outdated and you shouldn't read it. P.A.M. Dirac: The Principles of Quantum Mechanics http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Quantum-Mechanics-International-Monographs/dp/0198520115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373224418&sr=8-1&keywords=dirac http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Quantum-Mechanics-Internati...
return0 13y ago
I agree with some of his points. My opinions means shit though.

by dmead 13y ago

gaze 13y ago

this is all very standard stuff for a physicist. Any first or second year grad student should have an easy time digesting this.

logicallee 13y ago
"Pshaw, even the most dimwitted individual should understand this, provided they have a BS in physics, were accepted to grad school, and are in their first or second year."
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- pja 13y ago
  Nah, this is undergrad physics these days. 3rd or 4th year undergrad physics admittedly :)
  - gaze 13y ago
    Relativistic quantum mechanics typically isn't covered during undergrad. Maybe touched on briefly.
    - tfgg 13y ago
      I don't know what university you went to, but it definitely was on my course. Second or third year. The idea that you wouldn't cover relativistic QM in undergrad physics is pretty absurd, and probably indicative of how shallow American undergrad degrees are.
      - sanderjd 13y ago
        Defensive American undergraduate educated anecdote: my degree was in computer science and I studied this third year. Can't speak for anybody else.
        pja 13y ago
        Computational QM is a thing these days :)
        sanderjd 13y ago
        Yep, didn't mean to suggest the course is irrelevant to computer scientists. I meant to imply that if they're teaching it to CS students third year, presumably physics students are learning it earlier and/or in more depth.
      - fretless 13y ago
        There are ~2,500 institutions in the U.S granting bachelors degrees, and you're happy to make sweeping generalizations about all of them.
    - pja 13y ago
      Cambridge Physics Part II (third year of the Natural Sciences tripos) includes relativistic QM as a core 3rd year topic. The Cambridge Physics course is fairly hard core of course, but I would expect such a course to be part of any serious Physics undergraduate degree in the UK.

ig1 13y ago

I had a quick scan, seems pretty readable, you can skip the maths if you can't follow it and still get a sense of the work from the written material.

Maro 13y ago

I scanned it and I think it's awesome. I'll go back to it later probably. Having said that I wouldn't recommend anyone to read this. Instead, there's this awesome gem, which I have read multiple times. Don't believe anyone who says it's outdated and you shouldn't read it. P.A.M. Dirac: The Principles of Quantum Mechanics http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Quantum-Mechanics-International-Monographs/dp/0198520115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373224418&sr=8-1&keywords=dirac http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Quantum-Mechanics-Internati...

return0 13y ago

I agree with some of his points. My opinions means shit though.