In the context of field theory and theoretical physics, the Lagrangian is a mathematical function that encapsulates the dynamics of a system. It is a central concept in the Lagrangian formulation of mechanics, which has been extended to fields in the context of quantum field theory and classical field theory.
A Lyapunov vector is a mathematical concept used in the study of dynamical systems, particularly in the context of stability analysis and the behavior of differential equations. Lyapunov vectors are related to Lyapunov exponents, which measure the rate of separation of infinitesimally close trajectories of a dynamical system. When analyzing the stability of a fixed point or equilibrium of a dynamical system, Lyapunov exponents help quantify the growth or decay rates of perturbations around that point.
Multiple-scale analysis, also known as multiscale analysis, is a mathematical and analytical framework used to study phenomena that exhibit behavior on different spatial or temporal scales. This approach is particularly useful in various fields, including physics, engineering, biology, and applied mathematics, where systems show complex behaviors that cannot be properly understood by focusing solely on a single scale.
"Nuts and bolts" in the context of general relativity typically refers to the fundamental concepts, principles, and mathematical tools that form the foundation of the theory. General relativity, formulated by Albert Einstein in 1915, is a cornerstone of modern physics that describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime caused by mass and energy.
A pendulum in mechanics is a weight (or bob) attached to a fixed point by a string or rod that swings back and forth under the influence of gravity. The simple pendulum is characterized by its motion that follows a periodic path, making it a classic example in physics for studying oscillatory motion.
Poisson's equation is a fundamental partial differential equation in mathematical physics that relates the distribution of a scalar potential field to its sources. It is commonly used in electrostatics, gravitational theory, and fluid dynamics.
A **propagator** is a concept used in various fields, particularly in physics and mathematics, with specific meanings depending on the context: 1. **Quantum Field Theory (QFT)**: In the context of quantum field theory, a propagator is a mathematical function that describes the behavior of particles as they propagate from one point to another in spacetime. It essentially provides a mechanism to account for the interactions and effects of fields and particles.
The quantum speed limit is a concept in quantum mechanics that sets a fundamental limit on how fast a quantum system can evolve from one state to another. It essentially describes the maximum rate at which quantum information can be processed or transmitted. The concept is analogous to the classical speed limit in physics, which governs how fast an object can move in space.
Renormalization is a mathematical and conceptual framework used primarily in quantum field theory (QFT) and statistical mechanics to address issues related to infinities that arise in the calculations of physical quantities. These infinities can occur in situations where interactions involve very short-distance (high-energy) processes. The goal of renormalization is to produce finite, physically meaningful predictions by systematically handling these infinities.
Spin structure is a concept from topology and theoretical physics that arises in the context of manifold theory, particularly in relation to spin manifolds. In mathematics, a spin structure is typically defined on a manifold that enables the definition of spinors, which are mathematical objects that generalize the notion of complex numbers and vectors.
Spectral flux is a measure used in the analysis of audio signals, particularly in the context of music and speech processing. It quantifies the amount of change in the spectrum of a signal over time, providing an indication of how quickly the frequency content is evolving. In more technical terms, spectral flux is calculated by comparing the magnitude spectra of consecutive frames of audio signal.
Susan Friedlander is a notable mathematician, primarily recognized for her contributions to the fields of dynamical systems and complex analysis. She has made significant advances in research areas involving holomorphic dynamics and has published numerous papers on these topics. Friedlander has also been involved in mathematics education and advocacy for increasing diversity within the STEM fields.
The three-body problem is a classic problem in physics and mathematics that involves predicting the motion of three celestial bodies as they interact with one another through gravitational forces. The challenge of the three-body problem arises from the fact that while the gravitational interactions between two bodies can be described by simple equations (the two-body problem), adding a third body leads to a complex and chaotic system that generally cannot be solved analytically.
Two-dimensional Yang–Mills theory is a gauge theory that generalizes the concept of Yang–Mills theories to two spatial dimensions. In general, Yang–Mills theories are constructed from a gauge field that transforms under a symmetry group (the gauge group), and they play a crucial role in modern theoretical physics, particularly in quantum field theory and the Standard Model of particle physics.
The Udwadia–Kalaba formulation is a mathematical framework used in the field of mechanics, particularly in the study of constrained motion. It was developed by a pair of researchers, Satya P. Udwadia and D. D. Kalaba, in the late 20th century. This formulation provides a powerful and systematic approach for analyzing the dynamics of mechanical systems with constraints, which can be holonomic or non-holonomic.
The Weierstrass transform is a mathematical tool used in the fields of analysis and approximation theory. It is particularly useful in the study of functions and their properties, especially in the context of smoothing and regularization. The Weierstrass transform is named after the German mathematician Karl Weierstrass.
The Wu–Sprung potential is a theoretical potential used in nuclear physics, particularly in the study of nuclear interactions and nuclear structure. It is part of a class of potentials that describe the interactions between nucleons (protons and neutrons) within an atomic nucleus.
Bacterial growth refers to the increase in the number of bacteria in a population over time. This process involves several key aspects, which can be described in the context of microbial biology: 1. **Binary Fission**: Bacteria primarily reproduce through a process called binary fission, where a single bacterial cell divides into two identical daughter cells. This process involves the replication of the bacterial DNA and the subsequent division of the cell's cytoplasm.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 5. . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact