Estimating the Dipole Radiation Power using Dimensional Analysis

An Oscillating dipole Emitting Radiation
An electric dipole is characterized by the dipole moment $d$ which depends on both the charge $e$ and a the separation $s$ (but not independently on each).
Estimating the power radiated by an oscillating electric dipole is an excellent example for the usage of dimensional analysis.

Let us assume we have a dipole oscillating with frequency $\omega$. The relevant equations to describe the problem are obviously Maxwell's equations. Thus, unlike the electrostatic description of the Hydrogen Atom, the speed of light $c$ will be relevant for the solution. Moreover, instead of an expression that depends on the electron charge $e$, we will seek one which depends on the dipole moment $d$, which is charge times displacement: $\left[d\right] = esu \cdot cm$. The expression will obviously depend on $\omega$ as well. It wont depend on $\hbar$ because the problem is not a quantum mechanical one. Likewise, the expression will also be independent of $G$ because the problems is unrelated to gravity.

Predicting a supernova precursor (on SN2010mc)

A very interesting paper recently appeared in nature. It describes the detection of a precursor eruption of a supernova progenitor more than a month before the supernova explosion itself. It is particularly interesting because this detection was not serendipitous—it was based on my prediction.

Dust Dendrites

Dust dendrites on nylon sheath

My wife and I had our kitchen renovated aaa. Since this involved breaking a few walls (and cutting out a new window), we knew it would raise a lot of dust. Mind you, here in the middle east houses are built from concrete and concrete blocks, not wood. To minimize the dust annoyance (and damage), we decided to quarter off the living room from the kitchen by using large nylon sheets hung from the ceiling to the floor.

Characteristics of an LC circuit using Equipartition

An LC circuit is one which has a capacitor and an inductor connected to each other. It exhibits oscillations just like a mass on a spring (a harmonic oscillator). In fact, the analogy is quite accurate with the capacitor playing the role of the spring and the inductor playing the role of the mass inertia.

Just like any harmonic oscillator, we can use equipartition to estimate the energy and frequency of oscillations using equipartition.

The average energy in the capacitor is: $$

Why don't I believe the that neutrinos travel faster than the speed of light?

Three weeks ago I visited the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso near l'Aquila. Little did I know that it would make headline news so soon, for "discovering" particles moving faster than the speed of light. Since a few people asked me what did I think of it, I decided to write something about it here.

Corpuscular Rays in St. Peter's Basilica (the Vatican)

Blog topic: 
A few days ago, I stayed in the Vatican (more about this one day symposium in another post). During the stay, I naturally visited St. Peter's Basilica. Near Bernini's Altar, I saw corpuscular rays. It may seem like some godly thing (quite appropriate for the location), but from a physicists point of view, it is simply scattering by dust particles. Here is one can say about this holy dust with the help of a little envelope.

A Nice Black Hole Merger Simulation

I recently stumbled upon a nice black hole merger simulation.
Since it is not in my habit of just regurgitating stuff I see on the internet, here is my added value. How can one estimate the quadrupole gravitational radiation of a binary? How close does the binary have to be for it to coalesce within the age of the universe?

Parhelic Circles, Ice Haloes and Sun dogs over Jerusalem

A few weeks ago, a few students saw a nice phenomenon in the sky. Knowing I liked this kind of stuff (and that I may be able to explain it), they called me out of the office to look at the sky. Above us was a nice and almost complete parhelic circle. Unlike the usual 22° halo, often seen around the moon and occasionally around the sun, the parhelic circle keeps a fixed angle from the horizon, not from the bright object.

Estimating Stellar Parameters from Energy Equipartition

Many physical systems have a tendency to equilibrate the energy between different subcomponents. Sometimes it is exact, and sometimes not. For example, in an acoustic wave, the wave's energy is on average half kinetic (motion of the gas) and half internal (pressure). In the interstellar medium, there is roughly the same energy in the different components, such as internal energy, turbulent energy, magnetic field and energy of the cosmic rays. Stars are no different. In the sun, there is roughly the same binding energy (which is negative) as there is thermal energy. This can also be shown using the virial theorem. In white dwarfs, the thermal energy is unimportant, instead, there the degenergy energy of the electrons is comparable to the binding energy. We can use this tendency for equipartition to estimate different stellar parameters.

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