Okay folks, we need to talk. Of course, a little Christmas decoration here and there is nice, if it is of good taste. But what some of you are putting out there simply goes over the top. The world doesn’t need another 50 LEDs flashing in fourty different colors from a pile of plastic that …
Category Archives: English
Short Story: The Apocalypse that Never Happened
I recently found an old short story of mine, I wrote it in the high school subject English. Inspired by The Physicits, Measuring the World, Copenhagen, Life of Galileo and In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer (not available in English) – books that were part of my high school end exam in the subject German …
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Supersplit Supersymmetry
April Fool for High Energy Physicists On 1 April 2005, 8 theoretical high energy physicists uploaded a paper called Supersplit Supersymmetry on ArXiv, an elaborate April Fool. The authors proposed a new supersymmetric model, which according to them was an improvement to the so-called Split Supersymmetry model.
First Days in Paris
La Fondation Suisse
Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris For the second year of my Master in high energy physics, I am studying at the École Polytechnique in Paris. This week I arrived in Paris and moved into my new room in the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP). Established shortly after World War I, the CIUP today hosts …
The Truel
How about another cool riddle? Three opponents, A, B and C, have agreed to a truel with pistols. You are A, and you are a poor shooter: you are only able to hit your target once out of every three tries. B is better, he can hit the target two out of every three tries. C never misses. In the interest of fairness, you …
Deceptive Dice
Here an interesting riddle: The Terrible Twins, Innumeratus and Mathophila, were bored. “I know”, said Mathophila brightly. “Let’s play dice!”“Don’t like dice.”“Ah, but these are special dice”, said Mathophila, digging them out of an old chocolate box. One was red, one yellow and one blue. Innumeratus picked up the red dice. “There’s something funny about …
In a Nutshell
To prepare for exams, I usually create summaries that cover the entire content of the lecture. I put a lot of thoughts into what to include and what to omit, so that the summaries are reasonably complete but still clearly laid out. That’s why I’ve decided to share them. If you’re interested in what is …
Happy 2020!
I wish you all a Happy New Year! To start the year with a bang, check out my digital New Year’s card featuring a scientifically accurate electron explosion! Go to Card Screenshot Screenshot Screenshot The simulation (implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4) involves 2020 electrons that are placed randomly in a “2020”-shaped geometry. Since the electrons …
Rearranging Nucleons
Nuclear Power Plants certainly are a timely topic. Once praised as the carbon-free energy source of the future, now mainly discredited for producing radioactive waste and posing a threat to entire regions, nuclear power plants have been occupying us for a long time. This post explains the physical basics of nuclear fission, where the energy comes from and what its hazards are.
You are Two
Do you sometimes have the feeling that there are multiple entities inside your head? Because there are…
Particles, Paris and Promotion
Plans for the Phuture Over the past weeks I have received wonderful news that I would like to share!
It’s an ambush, Mr. Holmes
I am a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, particularly in the form of audiobooks. A special hobby of mine is to listen to the first half of an audiobook, then to pause it and to draw my own conclusions before listening to the rest. Following this habit, I …
The Discovery of Fire
Are we the Gods now? Is this conception of science and technology future-oriented?Should we still be relying so heavily on fire?