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A short historical review of the development of tunneling concept in low-temperature condensed matter physics, physical electronics, nuclear physics, chemistry, and biology is given. It is shown how the preceding classical physics is related to the quantum mechanical tunneling phenomenon. The emphasis is placed on the common features of various tunneling manifestations in nature. The triumph of the Faraday–Maxwell–Einstein idea of the physical field has been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the apparent paradox that the energy released in a fission bomb explosion is independent of the energy ϵ liberated by each fissioning nucleus. The paradox is resolved by noting that a larger value of ϵ results in a shorter "burn time"; this stops the chain reaction sooner and results in fewer nuclei being fissioned. Editor's Note: Both awe-inspiring and terrifying, a nuclear explosion is a spectacular display of microscopic physics profoundly affecting the human scale. This paper explores the physics of nuclear explosions and addresses the counter-intuitive fact that the total energy released by a fission bomb is independent of the energy released in a single fission. While this was known to the scientists who developed the atomic bomb, much of their work is classified and their knowledge remains inaccessible to the general public. With only a few historical documents to go on, the authors of this article attempt to recreate a calculation by Manhattan Project scientists and clearly show why the total energy yield is independent of the energy released by each fissioning nucleus. This article will be of interest to readers interested in nuclear physics or in the history of the Manhattan Project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the advancements in atomic and molecular physics that have allowed scientists to gain control over single atoms. While traditional physics experiments in the classroom have focused on indirect measurements of atoms, this experiment allows students to directly observe and interact with single atoms using an ion trap. The experiment involves exciting barium ions with different wavelengths of light and observing their quantum states. The article also describes a pilot project in which students and teachers successfully performed the experiment and measured the lifetime of the dark state of the ions. The experiment is currently housed in the Swiss Science Center Technorama, and an online platform has been created to allow access to the experiment remotely. [Extracted from the article]

At the top of the trajectory, many physics students mistakenly assume that if the velocity is zero, the acceleration must be zero too. Tying these different arrows to the concepts of velocity and acceleration can reinforce that velocity and acceleration are different quantities - make these detached from the actual object, as this will be helpful to students in distinguishing them from force vectors introduced later. Here is where the realization that "gravity never turns off" and drawn-in velocity and acceleration vectors can again be helpful. Introductory physics students frequently confuse concepts of velocity and acceleration, as in the example of a projectile motion problem where an object (e.g., a ball) is tossed upward in a gravitational field and undergoes freefall. [Extracted from the article]

The notion of wave–particle duality remains one of the most debated subjects in the history of quantum physics. The most famous debate on the subject occurred between Bohr and Einstein. In this work, we revisit the wave–particle duality in the Bohr–Einstein debate from the viewpoint of the recently established duality-entanglement relation. We show that the duality-entanglement relation can provide a valuable framework for quantitative analysis of the Einstein's gedanken double-slit experiment and clarify some of its fundamental aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern physics is based on Newton's laws of motion, which describe interaction via forces. In this paper, we argue that interaction needs to be described in terms of processes. By introducing the momentum work and the associated momentum energy in mechanics, we present a coherent formulation of the process equations for mechanics and thermodynamics. This naturally leads to a simple derivation of the Lorentz-transformed mass, according to which any object changes its mass in real terms when its velocity is changed. Momentum work requires a revision of Newton's laws of motion. For the first time in the history of physics, the elastic collision between objects, such as particles, can be described as a temporal process, not as interaction via force = counter-force. The mechanism of energy conversion during the elastic collision and other mechanical processes, such as free fall, becomes clear and demonstrates the validity of the principle of energy conservation on microscale at any point in time. The results suggest that physics can be rebuilt on a more coherent footing of dynamic processes up to quantum-process thermodynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dr. Jorge S. Diaz's JK^0 YouTube channel features videos on the physics of explosions, shockwaves, and early atomic and quantum physics. His content includes detailed explanations of topics like the Stern-Gerlach experiment and the Franck-Hertz experiment, suitable for undergraduate physics majors. Diaz's engaging storytelling style and richly illustrated presentations make his channel a valuable resource for students interested in quantum mechanics history and related mathematical concepts. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the concept of Bode's law, also known as the Titius-Bode law, which is used to predict the distances between planets and the Sun. It discusses the history of Bode's law and its limitations, such as its failure to predict the location of Neptune and its inability to account for the asteroid belt. The article presents a project for students to investigate Bode's law and compare it with the laws of Kepler and Newton to evaluate its reliability as a predictor of planetary spacings. While Bode's law may have some predictive power in terms of orbital stability, it is not considered a scientifically accurate explanation for the spacing between planets. Kepler's laws, based on data fitting and ratios of squares and cubes, provide a more accurate description of planetary motion. [Extracted from the article]

The history of particle physics can be considered nothing less than a huge triumph for science. Over the course of a little more than a century of effort, our understanding of the world of atomic and subatomic physics went from a vague understanding of atoms, to one that is much more detailed. Early in this hundred-year-long period, we learned about electrons (1897), then how they circle a dense nucleus (1911), followed by the discovery of the protons (1917) and neutrons (1932) that form the nucleus. From the 1930s onward, researchers used both cosmic rays and particle accelerators to discover antimatter (1932), and particles that don't exist in atoms (e.g., the muon [1936] and neutrino [1956], as well as a huge number of others). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past is always with us, not only the physics history that we revere and try to put into our classroom presentations. Two hundred years of teaching natural philosophy (physics) have left us a significant amount of physics history in the form of early apparatus. In this article, I will tell stories about how I have become involved in the study of early physics apparatus. Because of my website on Historical Physics Teaching Apparatus, I have fielded a series of queries since the year 2000: I have inherited this apparatus, what is it and how much is it worth? My students turned up this interesting piece of apparatus and think that they might use it in an experiment—what is it and tell me how it can be put into the curriculum? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barriers to women's education and employment in Europe and the United States in the 19th century made it unlikely that any women would be among the few physicists whose ideas are taught in high school and college courses. This paper explores the social settings in which three influential physicists worked—James Clerk Maxwell, Robert Millikan, and Albert Einstein—to better understand the limited opportunities available to women. By acknowledging and explaining why there weren't more women among these founding physicists, instructors may help students understand the barriers that still exist and feel more empowered to overcome them and pursue physics as a career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides resources and information on the physics of smartphone cameras. It highlights the advancements in smartphone camera technology, including the integration of multiple cameras and rangefinders to produce high-quality images from a compact device. The article also discusses the design and technologies used in smartphone cameras, such as stabilization, detectors, and the use of plastic aspherical lens elements with antireflective coatings. It mentions the use of GRIN elements and prismatic periscopes in some newer camera designs. The future of smartphone cameras is predicted to involve image correction and synthesis using software, including artificial intelligence. [Extracted from the article]

These brief summaries are designed to help readers easily see which articles will be most valuable to them. Letters to the editor Edward F. Redish, B 91 b (6), p. 415, https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0155772 Please enjoy this letter and consider writing one yourself. A magnet falling inside a conducting pipe: Dependence of the drag force on the magnet orienta... Chang Hyeon Lee and Byung-Yoon Park B 91 b (6), p. 440 https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0062860 Dropping a magnet in a conducting pipe to visualize the eddy current-induced braking is a classic classroom demonstration of induction. [Extracted from the article]

Of course, we welcome your ideas for how to effectively teach quantum mechanics, quantum computing, and quantum information, and we would be willing to consider those ideas even for teaching at the secondary-school level, since the effort to broaden the teaching of quantum mechanics will need to include contributions by those with experience teaching it at the university level. In 2025, we'll celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the development of quantum mechanics, and the United Nations is working towards a declaration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQST). Guest editors will oversee the review process and then serve as the first and most careful reader of each paper, providing authors of accepted papers with editing suggestions to make them as readable and useful as possible. [Extracted from the article]

In memoriam - Polina S. Landa (15 February 1931-21 October 2022) After defending her thesis, Polina continued to work on related topics, investigating the flutter of aircraft wings and the effect of noise on self-oscillators while, at the same time, she took up new tasks. Professor Polina Solomonovna Landa died on October 21, 2022. [Extracted from the article]

In high school, and also in introductory physics courses in higher levels of schooling, the law of universal gravitation of planets is introduced by postulating Johannes Kepler's three laws, and later Isaac Newton's law of the inverse of the square of the distance to the Sun. The justification of the laws is only achieved in advanced courses in mechanics. We present material to teach the law of areas and the law of attraction, which is inspired by Newton's analysis of motions under central forces, as done in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. The method is geometric, so that the dynamics behind the laws can be discussed with a ruler, triangles, and compass, or some software, without appeal to equations, and can be used on levels of instruction that dispense with analytic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To help bring history to life in the classroom, the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics (AIP) has published Phystory: a timeline-building game that can inspire students to learn about major events and people in the history of physics and astronomy and put them in perspective with the dates of major world events. Students will learn not just whether Hypatia or the Roman Colosseum came first, but also who John Buridan, Su Song, and Ibn al-Shatir were, along with many more scientific thinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Resource Letter provides a guide to the literature on the history of condensed matter physics, including discussions of the development of the field and strategies for approaching its complicated historical trajectory. Following the presentation of general resources, journal articles and books are cited for the following topics: conceptual development; institutional and community structure; social, cultural, and political history; and connections between condensed matter physics and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newton married her, Einstein eloped with her, and many a physicist fell head over heels for her beauty, charm, and heavenly elegance! This paper is a heartfelt personal attempt to make sense of the indescribable love many physicists have for their subject matter, physics. My muse's nickname is Feezya and this is how she shall be referred to for the remainder of this essay. What you are about to read is not an educational nor a scientific article. Rather, it is an essay that I hope will rekindle the love of the subject matter within the hearts of many of us whose day-to-day teaching loads and experimental and research obligations may have caused our passion to whither and our genuine affection to wash away. The article may at times poke some fun at math, chemistry, or other noble sciences; it is never out of disrespect but rather out of normal and harmless sibling rivalry amongst equally valuable fields of human knowledge and inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Https://www.aip.org/initialconditions Another historical-cultural-sociological treatment of physics, this time in an hour-long podcast format from a team (Justin Shapiro, Maura Shapiro, and Allison Rein) working at the American Institute of Physics (AAPT is a member society of the umbrella AIP group) Niels Bohr Library and Archives. They have episodes on climate science, energy crises and the environment, the Anthropocene era, quantum counterculture, African-American physics contributions (two episodes), historical romance and LGBTQ+ representation in physics, Newton, Einstein, John Brashear, and Ptolemy's I Almagest i - the last of which I super enjoyed listening to over the weekend. [Extracted from the article]

The article examines the history of relativistic mass. It explores the public role and private thoughts of scientist Albert Einstein about the concept of relativistic mass. Furthermore, it discusses the evolvement of the concept about speed-dependent mass to the idea of disapproval made by Einstein.

Investigates the differences in physics textbooks and high school physics education between China and other countries. Overview of the history of physics education in China; Emphasis of physics textbooks; Teaching methods, strategies and aids; Factors which have lead to the differences in physics education between China and other countries.

B Conquering the Physics GRE (3rd ed.). b Yoni Kahn and Adam Anderson. B The Heroic Age: The Creation of Quantum Mechanics 1925-1940. b Robert D. Purrington. The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics. b Adam Becker. [Extracted from the article]

A letter to the editor is presented that comments on Peter Goodchild's biography of Edward Teller.

Recounts the history of studies of materials at low temperatures. Impact of low temperature physics on the emergence and formulation of quantum theory; Examination of cooling effect resulting from dissolution of crystalline solids in water; Necessity of overcoming attractive forces between atoms in the adiabatical expansion of gases; Relationship of low-temperature physics to the study of rare gases.

Focuses on Galileo's `Dialogue on Two Sciences.' Analysis of falling objects; Views on Isaac Newton's `Principia'; Developments in physics over the years.