The Hyperfine Physics Podcast

Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 - The universe is not locally real. What does that mean?

The 2022 Physics Nobel Prize, awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell in

Acoustic Levitation w/ Special Guest Dr. David Jackson

Zak and Derek discuss acoustic levitaiton with Dr. David Jackson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dickinson College. Their published paper at AAJP (requires subscr

Gravitational G and How Science Works

Zak and Derek discuss the "controversial" value of Newton's gravitational constant G. They cover the history of its measurement and how the value (and confidence in that

Cosmology and the Arrow of Time

Zak and Derek discuss the big question: why is the future different than the past? Why do we remember the past but not the future? Much the discussion comes from Sean Ca

Is Anything Truly Random? w/Special Guest Grant Ciffone

Zak and Derek chat with special guest, Grant Ciffone! Grant joins us as a non-physicist who asks “Is anything truly random in the universe?” Interested in being a guest

How to Keep Time

Zak and Derek discuss a mystery in a hospital, where an MRI machine seems to have taken out only iPhones; Android was unharmed. This leads to a conversation on how watche

Entropy & Statistical Mechanics

Zak and Derek discuss the statistical origins of entropy and how it connects from there into thermodynamics. They also encourage using flashcards 🙂 The podcast lives at

Thermodynamics

Zak and Derek discuss the basics of thermodynamics, including the so-called thermodynamic potentials. Topics: energy, temperature, entropy, pressure, volume, enthalpy, H

Benford’s Law

Zak and Derek discuss Benford’s Law, including the strange places it pops up, and some fundamental origins of the law. Some of the references discussed: The Mathematics

Planck, Einstein, and the Origins of Quantum Mechanics

Zak and Derek discuss Max Planck’s work in the foundations of what would turn into quantum mechanics, and Albert Einstein’s role in its promulgation. How did Max Planck f

The Physics of Hurricanes

Zak and Derek discuss the physics of hurricanes, including the energy involved, and rotating reference frames, including Coriolis effects. Why do they rotate in different

Hadrons – Quark Systems

Zak and Derek discuss the composite systems of quarks in baryons and mesons, as well as the eightfold way and multiplet organization of quark particles. This is a follow

Neutrinos

The podcast lives at https://www.thehyperfine.com/ Join our listener community on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheHyperfine/ Follow the show on Instagram @thehyperf

The Standard Model Part 1

The first of a multi-part series on the Standard Model of particle physics. This is an overview of the particles that make up the standard model. Derek’s main reference

Domino Amplifier

Zak and Derek discuss toppling larger and larger dominos in a chain reaction. How does the potential energy work? What are the limits of the setup? World Record Largest

Bohmian Mechanics – Pilot Wave Theory

Zak and Derek follow up their Bell’s Theorm and EPR discussion with a survey of Bohmian mechanics, often called pilot wave theory, one of many interpretations of quantum

Relative Motion (Not Relativity)

Zak and Derek discuss a drone flying in an accelerating car. Does it stay in place? Fly to the back, front, ceiling, or floor? (And does the plane take off?) The origina

Bell’s Theorem and EPR

Zak and Derek discuss nothing less than the fundamental nature of reality. They start with the arguments made in the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paper from 1935, which

Climbing Magnets

Zak and Derek try to tackle the “climbing magnets” puzzle from Veritasium’s Youtube channel. Both taking different approaches until watching the result together. Video o

Balloons Inside Balloons and Sweet Spots

Zak and Derek first discuss what happens to a balloon which holds another balloon that pops while inside the first. Then they try to tackle the physics of sweet spots on