Topic Review
Quantum Reality
Quantum Reality is a 1985 popular science book by physicist Nick Herbert, a member the Fundamental Fysiks Group which was formed to explore the philosophical implications of quantum theory. The book attempts to address the ontology of quantum objects, their attributes, and their interactions, without reliance on advanced mathematical concepts. Herbert discusses the most common interpretations of quantum mechanics and their consequences in turn, highlighting the conceptual advantages and drawbacks of each.
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  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Filters Based on TSLCs and Templated-TSLCs
An optical filter is one of the indispensable devices in massive and high-speed communication, optical signal processing, and display. Twist-structure liquid crystals, cholesteric liquid crystals, blue-phase liquid crystals, and sphere-phase liquid crystals show potential application in optical filters originating from the periodic nanostructures. Wavelength and bandwidth tuning can be controlled via temperature, electric fields, light, angle, spatial control, and templating technology. 
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Topic Review
Grain Boundary Sliding
Grain Boundary Sliding (GBS) is a material deformation mechanism where grains slide against each other. This occurs in polycrystalline material under external stress at high homologous temperature (above ~0.4) and low strain rate and is intertwined with creep. Homologous temperature describes the operating temperature relative to the melting temperature of the material. There are mainly two types of grain boundary sliding: Rachinger sliding, and Lifshitz sliding. Grain boundary sliding usually occurs as a combination of both types of sliding. Boundary shape often determines the rate and extent of grain boundary sliding. Many people have developed estimations for the contribution of grain boundary sliding to the total strain experienced by various groups of materials, such as metals, ceramics, and geological materials. Grain boundary sliding contributes a significant amount of strain, especially for fine grain materials and high temperatures. It has been shown that Lifshitz grain boundary sliding contributes about 50-60% of strain in Nabarro-Herring diffusion creep. This mechanism is the primary cause of ceramic failure at high temperatures due to the formation of glassy phases at their grain boundaries. 
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Topic Review
Nanoflares
A nanoflare is a very small episodic heating event which happens in the corona, the external atmosphere of the Sun. The hypothesis of small impulsive heating events as a possible explanation of the coronal heating was first suggested by Thomas Gold and then later developed and dubbed "nanoflares" by Eugene Parker. According to Parker a nanoflare arises from an event of magnetic reconnection which converts the energy stored in the solar magnetic field into the motion of the plasma. The plasma motion (thought as fluid motion) occurs at length-scales so small that it is soon damped by the turbulence and then by the viscosity. In such a way the energy is quickly converted into heat, and conducted by the free electrons along the magnetic field lines closer to the place where the nanoflare switches on. In order to heat a region of very high X-ray emission, over an area 1" x 1", a nanoflare of 1017 J should happen every 20 seconds, and 1000 nanoflares per second should occur in a large active region of 105 x 105 km2. On the basis of this theory, the emission coming from a big flare could be caused by a series of nanoflares, not observable individually. The nanoflare model has long suffered from a lack of observational evidence. Simulations predict that nanoflares produce a faint, hot (~10 MK) component of the emission measure. Unfortunately, current instruments, such as the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer on board Hinode, are not adequately sensitive to the range in which this faint emission occurs, making a confident detection impossible. Recent evidence from the EUNIS sounding rocket has provided some spectral evidence for non-flaring plasma at temperatures near 9 MK in active region cores.
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Topic Review
K-Theory
In string theory, K-theory classification refers to a conjectured application of K-theory (in abstract algebra and algebraic topology) to superstrings, to classify the allowed Ramond–Ramond field strengths as well as the charges of stable D-branes. In condensed matter physics K-theory has also found important applications, specially in the topological classification of topological insulators, superconductors and stable Fermi surfaces ((Kitaev 2009), (Horava 2005)).
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Topic Review
N1 (Rocket)
The N1/L3 (from Ракета-носитель Raketa-nositel', "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: Н1) was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Moon and beyond, with studies beginning as early as 1959. Its first stage, Block A, remains the most powerful rocket stage ever flown. However, all four first stages flown failed mid-flight because a lack of static test firings meant that plumbing issues and other adverse characteristics with the large cluster of thirty engines and its complex fuel and oxidizer feeder system were not revealed earlier in development. The N1-L3 version was designed to compete with the United States Apollo program to land a person on the Moon, using a similar lunar orbit rendezvous method. The basic N1 launch vehicle had three stages, which were to carry the L3 lunar payload into low Earth orbit with two cosmonauts. The L3 contained one stage for trans-lunar injection; another stage used for mid-course corrections, lunar orbit insertion, and the first part of the descent to the lunar surface; a single-pilot LK Lander spacecraft; and a two-pilot Soyuz 7K-LOK lunar orbital spacecraft for return to Earth. The N1-L3 was underfunded and rushed, starting development in October 1965, almost four years after the Saturn V. The project was badly derailed by the death of its chief designer Sergei Korolev in 1966. Each of the four attempts to launch an N1 failed, with the second attempt resulting in the vehicle crashing back onto its launch pad shortly after liftoff. The N1 program was suspended in 1974, and officially canceled in 1976. All details of the Soviet crewed lunar programs were kept secret until the USSR was nearing collapse in 1989.
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Topic Review
Chemical Beam Epitaxy
Chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) forms an important class of deposition techniques for semiconductor layer systems, especially III-V semiconductor systems. This form of epitaxial growth is performed in an ultrahigh vacuum system. The reactants are in the form of molecular beams of reactive gases, typically as the hydride or a metalorganic. The term CBE is often used interchangeably with metal-organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE). The nomenclature does differentiate between the two (slightly different) processes, however. When used in the strictest sense, CBE refers to the technique in which both components are obtained from gaseous sources, while MOMBE refers to the technique in which the group III component is obtained from a gaseous source and the group V component from a solid source.
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Topic Review
Holika
Holika (Sanskrit: होलिका) was a demoness in Hindu Vedic scriptures, who was burnt to death with the help of God Vishnu. She was the sister of King Hiranyakashipu and aunt of Prahlad. The story of Holika Dahan (Holika's death) signifies the triumph of good over evil. Holika is associated with the annual bonfire on the night before Holi, the Hindu festival of colors.
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Topic Review
Electro-Osmosis
Electroosmotic flow (or electro-osmotic flow, often abbreviated EOF; synonymous with electroosmosis or electroendosmosis) is the motion of liquid induced by an applied potential across a porous material, capillary tube, membrane, microchannel, or any other fluid conduit. Because electroosmotic velocities are independent of conduit size, as long as the electrical double layer is much smaller than the characteristic length scale of the channel, electroosmotic flow will have little effect. Electroosmotic flow is most significant when in small channels. Electroosmotic flow is an essential component in chemical separation techniques, notably capillary electrophoresis. Electroosmotic flow can occur in natural unfiltered water, as well as buffered solutions.
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Topic Review
Observer Effect
In physics, the observer effect is the disturbance of an observed system by the act of observation. This is often the result of instruments that, by necessity, alter the state of what they measure in some manner. A common example is checking the pressure in an automobile tire; this is difficult to do without letting out some of the air, thus changing the pressure. Similarly, seeing non-luminous objects requires light hitting the object, and causing it to reflect that light. While the effects of observation are often negligible, the object still experiences a change. This effect can be found in many domains of physics, but can usually be reduced to insignificance by using different instruments or observation techniques. A notable example of the observer effect occurs in quantum mechanics, as demonstrated by the double-slit experiment. Physicists have found that observation of quantum phenomena can change the measured results of this experiment. Despite the "observer effect" in the double-slit experiment being caused by the presence of an electronic detector, the experiment's results have been misinterpreted by some to suggest that a conscious mind can directly affect reality. The need for the "observer" to be conscious is not supported by scientific research, and has been pointed out as a misconception rooted in a poor understanding of the quantum wave function ψ and the quantum measurement process.
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