On the Utility of Textbooks in Understanding the Renaissance of General RelativityThis paper argues for the historical utility of general relativity textbooks written during, or shortly before, the Renaissance of general relativity. More so than research papers, textbooks offer a…Bernadette Lessel·Oct 9, 2026SaveLearn
The contribution of Soviet scientists to the emergence of high-energy neutrino astrophysics: from the Cherenkov effect to underwater and in-ice telescopesThe 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Francis Halzen @for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.@ This…Bakhromzod Rizoi·Oct 7, 2026SaveLearn
When quantum field theory kicks in: the relation between matter, gravity and energyThe existence of energy is the main criterion for (i) providing a common core to the materiality of all types of classical matter and (ii) denying that the gravitational field of General Relativity…Antonio Ferreiro, Andrea Cavallaro·Oct 6, 2026SaveLearn
Astronomia Ova: Kepler's Laws, Ptolemy's Equant, and Legendre's PolynomialsMotivated by Kepler's long battle with the orbit of Mars, we present a family of orbits that satisfy his second law, conserving angular momentum around a central mass, and also fulfill…Cristopher Moore, Malcolm Smith, Stephan Mertens·Oct 4, 2026SaveLearn
On Gauge Gravity's 'Hypermomentum Challenge' to the Geometric TrinityClaims concerning a dynamical equivalence between general relativity and two reformulations of it, in which gravity is encoded in torsion and non-metricity respectively, have attracted some…Kartik Tiwari·Sep 29, 2026SaveLearn
What is Physics For? Why Classical Physics is not the Limit of Quantum MechanicsQuantum mechanics is justifiably held to be the most successful physical theory ever created; yet no universally accepted interpretation of its mathematical formalism exists after a century of…Adam Frank, Jacques L. Pienaar, Michel Bitbol et al.·Sep 28, 2026SaveLearn
From Mass to Energy-Momentum: The Field-Theoretic Perspective on the Energy-Mass RelationThe paper examines the energy-mass relation of Special Relativity (SR), its status and interpretation, through the lens of classical/non-quantum relativistic field theory. The latter arguably…Patrick M. Duerr, J. Brian Pitts·Sep 26, 2026SaveLearn
Does a Second-Class Primary Constraint Generate a Gauge Transformation? Electromagnetisms and Gravities, Massless and MassiveIn constrained Hamiltonian dynamics there are two views regarding how first-class constraints generate gauge transformations: individually or only in a certain combination, the…J. Brian Pitts·Sep 25, 2026SaveLearn
δ-flatness and its natural extensionWhat, if anything, makes Minkowski spacetime a privileged local reference geometry in General Relativity? Recent work by WeatherallFletcher argues: nothing. In response, I proposed a criterion…Henrique Gomes·Sep 24, 2026SaveLearn
Piezoelectricity: A Brief History of its Discovery and Physical Principles Using the Example of Low QuartzPiezoelectricity is a key phenomenon in solid-state physics and has significant technological relevance. In teaching, however, it is often treated either without a historical context or an explicit…Ruediger G. Ballas, Nataliya Koev·Sep 24, 2026SaveLearn
The Price of Removing the Scaffolding: Maxwell wrote something about Ampère that years later would be done to himIn the history of physics, the name scaffolding has been given to whatever served to raise a theory and is afterwards removed because, it is said, it is no longer needed. This article documents, from…María Florentina Mendoza Urán·Sep 22, 2026SaveLearn
The Meaning and Facets of `Symmetry' in PhysicsThis paper is an English translation of a contribution to the latest German edition (2017) of Hermann Weyl's classic text "Symmetry", edited and annotated by Erhard Scholz, Klaus Volkert,…Domenico Giulini·Sep 21, 2026SaveLearn
Before WIMPs: Neutrinos and the origins of particle dark matterAfter four decades of null-results, the experimental quest to discover a dark matter particle ardently continues. While confidence in the leading candidate, the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle…Jaco de Swart·Sep 21, 2026SaveLearn
The wavelength of light as Thomas Young invented itThis paper documents Thomas Young's invention of a concept which he alternately refers to as the ''magnitude'', ''breadth'', ''interval'' or…Olivier Morizot·Sep 21, 2026SaveLearn
Field Velocity and Mass Renormalization in Classical ElectromagnetismThe intricate procedure of mass renormalization in quantum field theory has a simpler precursor in classical electromagnetism. There, the renormalized mass of a charged body includes both its bare…Charles T. Sebens·Sep 20, 2026SaveLearn
Pyroelectricity: A Brief History of its Discovery and Physical Principles - an OverviewThis paper deals with the historical development and physical mechanisms of pyroelectricity, a phe-nomenon whose roots date back over 2000 years to ancient times. This paper is aimed at students and…Ruediger G. Ballas, Nataliya Koev·Sep 20, 2026SaveLearn
Niels Bohr in North America (1923) and his Meeting with Robert FrostDuring the autumn of 1923, Niels Bohr stayed for about three months in Canada and the United States where he gave a series of lectures on atomic and quantum theory. This paper provides details about…Helge Kragh·Sep 13, 2026SaveLearn
Gauge Matters More Than CurvatureRecent orthodoxy, which we call Curvature Fundamentalism, posits that the field strength F on spacetime exhausts the physically significant content of electromagnetism, at least on prosaic…Henrique Gomes, Bryan W Roberts·Sep 11, 2026SaveLearn
Scientific PromiseScientists constantly face decisions about what lines of research to pursue. This Element introduces the philosophical debate about scientific pursuitworthiness. It explains how it can be rational to…Enno Fischer·Sep 10, 2026SaveLearn
The Crab Nebula progenitor: recovering the 1054 AD supernova event as galactic Gamma-ray burstIn 1054 AD a daytime star appeared in the constellation of Taurus, for three weeks, and it was reported in various sources from Europe to China/Japan: it was one of the few documented galactic…Costantino Sigismondi, Remo Ruffini·Sep 9, 2026SaveLearn
Is Black Hole Evaporation Prediction Friendly?Manchak and Weatherall (2018) formulate the black hole information paradox as a failure of predictability in black hole evaporation spacetimes, diagnosed by non-global hyperbolicity. I offer a…Dominic John Ryder·Sep 9, 2026SaveLearn
Lorenz vs Lorentz. The controversy examined from the original textsThe attribution of the condition div A + (1/c2) dPhi/dt = 0 has been under discussion since 1938 as a question of priority between Ludvig Lorenz and Hendrik Lorentz. This work argues that the…María Florentina Mendoza Urán·Sep 5, 2026SaveLearn
From the Light Quantum to the Photon: The Evolution of a Physical ConceptThis work examines the physical and conceptual evolution of the light quantum from Planck's blackbody theory to the theoretical and experimental developments that led to the quantization of the…Aaron Collavini, Valentina Bologna, Francesco Longo et al.·Sep 4, 2026SaveLearn
Niels Bohr as a Physicist of PrincipleOur main claim is that Bohr adopted a principle-theoretic approach to quantum mechanics in order to reconcile two principles: the distinction principle, which asserts the necessity of a clear…Mauro Dorato, Jan Faye·Sep 3, 2026SaveLearn
The Whittaker-Maxwell Scaffolding. Scaffolding or template: what remains of a model when it is removedThis paper discusses the metaphor, originating with Whittaker, according to which Maxwell's model of molecular vortices was the scaffolding by means of which the equations of electromagnetism…María Florentina Mendoza Urán·Sep 1, 2026SaveLearn