Video Image

Video URL

http://youtu.be/eNX0tmbFUtE

Video Description

The quantum physics of the atomic nucleus is notoriously difficult, but this video demonstrates its underlying 3D geometry. That doesn't make the many-body problem of nuclear structure theory exactly "easy", but the geometry of nuclear states is comprehensible to anyone who can comprehend the three dimensions of Cartesian space. Welcome to Quantum Nucleodynamics.

Video Creator Bio

I have spent a career trying to understand the phenomena of the human mind and the structure of the atomic nucleus.

7 days later

Very nicely done. Your geometric representation provokes much thought. Especially important is to see energy levels and magic numbers pop out of the model.

Hopefully it inspires physicist to re-consider the importance of models in representing properties of particles.

    7 days later

    Dear Mr. Cook,

    If one of the goals of the FQXi video contest is to expose interesting physics ideas and concepts, regardless whether new or seasoned, to an audience of interested and curious viewers, this video accomplishes that. The video graphics are excellent. This area of physics is one I've had very little contact with and this presentation has inspired digging a little further into the references cited. For these reasons the video fulfils the best goals of the FQXi competition.

    Wishing you success in the contest.

    Alexander Roth (Special Rel .....)

      Hi Ed,

      Thanks for the comments.

      The only radical idea in the video is that "geometry is important" . In that regard, I think that the modeling of 3D structure should precede more sophisticated dynamic modeling. Those two approaches aren't necessarily contradictory, but, in the nuclear realm, if you start with the wrong 3D structure (a liquid drop or a miniature gas or a simple cubic lattice) you will end up spending a Ptolemaic career adding epicycles and fancy dynamics to fix the mistakes in your starting structure!

      It may seem crazy to go back to 1937, but Wigner had the correct face-centered cubic lattice for the nucleus way back then (Physical Review 51, 106, 1937)... and not many of us have had the stomach to return to that insight and rebuild nuclear structure physics from that starting point!

      Dear Mr. Roth!

      I will comment on your own contribution elsewhere, but thank you for your comments on mine.

      Clearly, the video format allows us to revisit old problems in a new way - and just might make our ideas easier to digest. It is paradoxical, I think, but the discipline of physics is to reduce complex multidimensional ideas to simple mathematical formulae, but the efficient communication of those ideas is not necessarily working backwards from the formula to the original concepts. For some, the mathematical route is okay, but for others the mathematics is easier to understand if it follows a didactic, step-by-step presentation of the overall concept. In the end, both routes are essential, but these issues in fundamental physics are much too important to leave them to the mathematical whiz-kids.

      19 days later

      I thought this was excellent Norm!

      Not only do you make your point well, but you also are making a point that should inform and uplift the establishment - if people are listening. The greatest value of a contest like this is that it lets ground-breaking work like yours receive some attention, rather than being completely ignored. I hope you end up among the finalists, so the experts will be made to see this important work.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

        Many thanks, Jonathan.

        I agree. The video format makes it easier to introduce the basics of what are ultimately rather complex ideas.

        It might even be worthwhile for the "serious journals" to ask that an author makes a 5-minute video to give the broader context of the research. The details will of course follow in the written report, but the underlying motivation is also important...

        Cheers

        Norman

        15 days later

        Hello again Norman,

        I see not much action here, which is sad. I hope you got the paper I sent to your e-mail at Kansai, an unfinished draft about my Mandelbrot research. I wish that a few more people had found your wonderful video, and I think it deserves to do well, but you may not even get the minimum number of votes required - which is a shame. This is definitely a topic I'll want to follow up on, after the contest has concluded.

        All the Best,

        Jonathan

        Very intriguing subject matter! Your video was very informative!

        If you get a chance I'd really appreciate it if you gave our video a watch and rated it too!

        http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2189

        Thanks in advance,

        Ian Harris

        8 years later
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