It's now official.

Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity is now corroborated. Now, this may not be so important, but after a week of watching the history channel talk about basic physics, I think it's pretty cool. Einstein spent many, many, many hours writing, rewriting, walking, daydreaming, and writing just to get this theory right. This theory was the hot spot of his day. Astronomers went all over the world and just had the worst luck proving this for him (for physical evidence), and some even were arrested in Russia. Some lost their state-of-the-arch equipment. Everyone was excited about it.

Then he wins the Noble Prize. For his law concerning the photoelectric effect. Of course, he kept his promise and sent all his money to Mileva, who then blew it on some apartments or some ****.

Agghh reading all this physics stuff makes me feel like some kind of a muon.

I have no idea what premises the scientists were operating under, but it sounds like it's only corroborated in the context of the "conventional model of particle physics". That is to say, the evidence is found using a theoretical model. I don't know how valuable this evidence is, especially because the model was probably at least partly constructed based on the assumption e=mc^2 is true, so it may have circular reasoning.

I wouldn't say it's circular reasoning. One usually assumes a theory is true. If one assumes the theory is false, then the researchers are acting under similar conditions of the same principle of being ignorant of the theory.

However, I would say this is pretty useless, considering it's widespread acceptance already.

The validity of a theory is determined by whether it's based off of essential, undeniable facts. If a theory is based off of a logical subsequence of these facts, then the theory becomes law. What exactly are essential, undeniable facts is another story (see Epistemology), but even in the wacky world of physics E=mc^2 is hardly an acceptable fact. Because of this, using e=mc^2 to prove a theory to prove e=mc^2 would be "begging the question," as internet logicians say.

By the way Latis, we should get together some time and sit in my leather armchairs and smoke some hookah in my taxidermy lounge while discussing physics and philosophy. I think that would help explain why I'm such a crazy man.

btw, this is me hitting on you

I thought we had already proven this with binding energies.

Aye, me as well. I would love to take to an afternoon talk before I'm off to the haberdasher tomorrow. This damn button won't stay on :\

Now that I understand the basis of where you are coming from, I would agree. However, we do not exactly know the researchers' model for acquiring the needed evidence to corroborate the Special Theory of Relativity, and therefor I cannot jump to a conclusion on just about how exactly beneficial this is for the Association. Excuse my existentialist reasoning, but it is pointless unless one looks at it as an achievement for Einstein's posthumous honor.

by having a quick nosey at the article and from what I guess is the title of the article that will be in the journel, all they have really done is some frigg'in huge lattice QCD calculation, which I'm not touching with a barge-pole.

Yep, it's important but it's not really that important, all they've done is confirm einstein's findings down to a smaller scale that what had previously been done.

As for QCD, it is one of our most accurate theories to date in regards to particle physics at the sub-atomic level, I can't say for sure (without looking into it, which I'm not doing at 2am in the morning) but QCD is built up in an entirely different mathematical fashion from that of relativity, they share no common ground.

Hence why the two models can be considered as a test on each other.

you got it man, that's the exact expression i make when i read physics

before you dash to the haberdasher?

Here's the real travesty:

Einstein's work on the photoelectric effect was based on the works of Niels Bohr and Louis de Broglie. Specifically, Einstein replaced the portions of Bohr's theories that relied on Maxwell's work with de Broglie's hypothesis about particle-wave duality theory.

Nobody believed de Broglie. The only reason he's in the history books at all is because Einstein agreed with him.

wow, i had no idea 95% of the mass of a nucleus was actually energy

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