Physics Commons^™

Marie Curie: The Quantum Matriarch, Diptiman Das

Student Publications

Entitled “Marie Curie: The Quantum Matriarch,” this paper illuminates the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of Marie Curie, whose groundbreaking work in radioactivity revolutionized the scientific landscape. Born as Maria Skłodowska in the heart of Warsaw, Curie’s odyssey from Poland’s clandestine Flying University to the hallowed halls of Paris’ Sorbonne epitomizes her tenacious quest for enlightenment amidst the shackles of societal norms. In collaboration with her spouse, Pierre Curie, she discovered the elements polonium and radium, thereby introducing the concept of “radioactivity” to the world and securing Nobel accolades in both Physics and Chemistry. This paper ventures into her intimate …

Quantum Realities: A Comparative Analysis Of Interpretations Addressing The Measurement Problem In Quantum Mechanics, Adib Kabir

Student Publications

This paper examines the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and evaluates three major interpretations: the Copenhagen interpretation, the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI), and the Pilot-Wave theory. The Copenhagen interpretation posits that particles exist in superposition until measured, at which point their wave functions collapse. MWI suggests that all possible outcomes occur in separate, non-interacting branches of the universe, eliminating wave function collapse but introducing an infinite number of unobservable universes. The Pilot-Wave theory reintroduces determinism through hidden variables, guiding particles along definite paths. The paper concludes that the Copenhagen interpretation is the most plausible, balancing empirical adequacy, ontological clarity, and simplicity.

On Marie Curie And Me, Sharon L. Stephenson

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

When people discover I am a nuclear physicist, they often say, "Oh, like Marie Curie!" And yes, I am like Marie in that I have woman parts, I study nuclei, I have two children and a physicist husband. But had I lived in her time, I would not have been that rare female admitted to the Sorbonne. I could not have quietly made the top scores on the math and physics examinations. I am impulsive and thin-skinned, my occasional cleverness passing for deeper talent. I would probably have been a cleaning girl, pregnant at 15, unable to speak any language …

5. Newton, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section VIII: The Development of Modern Science

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born and educated in England. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and there found the inspiration for his prodigious work that was to synthesize and extend the labors of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and others beyond the wildest dreams of any of them. Newton was the intellectual giant who set the direction of the physical sciences on the paths they were to follow undeviatingly into the twentieth century. [excerpt]

Xx. Meaning In The Physical Sciences, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XX: Meaning in the Physical Sciences

The twentieth century has seen two major revolutions in our theories of physics concerning nature, and these have made us change many of our concepts about the terms in which nature can be described. The new theories born in these revolutions are the theory of relativity and of quantum mechanics. The biological sciences had their revolutions in the nineteenth century, and while remarkable progress has been made since, nothing comparable to that upheaval has occurred in this century. Of the two massive changes in the concepts of the physical sciences, we can discuss but one here. [excerpt]

1. The Problem, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XX: Meaning in the Physical Sciences

Newton's laws of motion and their associated definitions encountered their first difficulty near the middle of the nineteenth century.

Newton had designed his theory to describe the behavior of matter in space and time by inventing a relationship between the force on a body and the resulting change in motion of the body. Such a description of nature came to be called mechanical, and a large part of physicists' efforts were directed toward reducing all aspects of physics to mechanics. These efforts were rewarded magnificently in the fields of heat, electricity, and sound, in addition to astronomy and other more …

2. The Theory Of Special Relativity, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XX: Meaning in the Physical Sciences

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) published his first work on relativity in 1905, the same year in which he published remarkable papers on Brownian motion and the photoelectric effect. At the time he did this work, he was a patent examiner in the Swiss Patent Office. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921 "for his services to the theory of physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect." He became a professor of physics at several German universities, and in 1916, he took a position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin.

As the …