Essential Physics in a Nutshell: Episode 1: What is Physics? (Online Event)

Welcome!

What have physicists learned about how our world works?
What do we still not understand?

Is time travel possible? What is time? Do wormholes exist?
What is dark matter? Are black holes really black?
What is quantum physics? What was there before the Big Bang?
Where are the magnetic monopoles?
Where did the elements on Earth come from?
Can the laws of Nature change with time? How will our universe end?
Is there more than one universe, with different laws?
Is there Life elsewhere in our universe?
Why are we seeking Grand Unified Theories and Theories of Everything?
Will finding those help answer the question to "Life, the Universe and Everything?" :)

That, and more, is what we intend to talk about in an upcoming series* of online events aimed primarily at newbies and other enthusiasts.

But to do that, we need to first establish some common language and base knowledge. We will build that up systematically in the upcoming weeks, focussing on some core topic at each session, starting from classical physics to relativity and quantum physics and so on. We will also bring up some open problems and proposed solutions in each session.

The presentations, by a theoretical physicist, will be mostly qualitative and heuristic, aimed primarily at newbies and other enthusiasts. Pointers will also be provided to additional resources, most of which are freely available online.

For Episode 1 we will present the goals of physics, a view that physics is information compression, the scientific method, Occams Razor, and the evolution of physics theories. Also, a puzzle: Why is mathematics such an effective language for physics?

Dont worrry! We wont be doing mathematics but it is good to know what the important physics equations mean and so we will explain some basic symbols, such as those for vectors, derivatives (that describe rate of change), etc.

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Essential Physics in a Nutshell: Episode 1: What is Physics?
Essentials of Physics
Saturday, October 4 · 8:00 – 9:30pm
Time zone: Asia/Singapore
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/zeh-cbtb-oht

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Please note:
1. All participants must turn on their video feed for the event, with your face clearly visible.

2. The event will last between 60 to 90 minutes.

2. You can stay for the whole session or leave when you want.

3. If no one shows up within first 10 minutes, the event for that day will be closed.

4. Follow up dicussions may be held online on another day or in this Telegram channel: https://t.me/+7AbAhntPHC45ZDhl
You need to download the free Telegram app on your phone. Telegram allows for privacy as you can use a userid without revealing your phone number to the group.

5. You may message me in advance if you have some specific topic you would like to hear about.

6. Additional resources will be posted here (click link)

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*Tentative schedule for the coming months:
Episode 1: What is Physics?
Episode 2: Newton, Maxwell and Chaos
Episode 3: Complexity, Emergence, Entropy and Information
Episode 4: Special Relativity and Puzzles
Episode 5: Quantum Theory and Weirdness
Episode 6: Fundamental Particles, Forces and Open Problems
Episode 7: Gravity, Cosmology and Open Problems
Episode 8: Dreams of Unified Theories
Episode 9 : Feel free to suggest other topics!