1
What is unusual about the polarization states of gravitational waves?
The polarization planes are not perpendicular to each other, but are at 45 degree angles.
2
How has the meter been officially defined since 1983?
It is the distance light travels through a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 seconds.
3
The Michelson-Morley experiment was designed to measure the speed of what?
Although it had major implications for the speed of light, the actual purpose behind its design was to measure the speed of Earth relative to the ether, back when it was believed that ether exists.
4
Who first suggested that particles would have antiparticles?
Paul Dirac
5
Which solutions to a Laplace transform are used to describe the shapes of electron orbits?
Bessel functions
6
Newtonian mechanics can be described with vector quantities. What two mathematical quantities are needed to describe relativistic quantum mechanics?
Tensors and One-Forms
7
When James Clerk Maxwell published the famous "Maxwell's Equations," how many were there?
12. While they are normally taught as 4 equations today, physicists did not adopt vector notation unil a few decades after Maxwell's work, so he had a different equation for each vector component.
8
Gluons have both one colour and one anticolour with red, green, and blue, which you would expect to lead to 9 types, yet there are only 8. Which is missing?
The green/antigreen gluon.
9
What is a helium flash?
It is the moment a star runs out of hydrogen to burn, begins to collapse increasing the internal pressure, and triggers helium fusion instead, expanding rapidly into a red giant star and continuing to shine.
10
Who was the first to define the kilogram?
Louis Lefevre-Gineau, in 1799.
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