A blog about condensed matter and nanoscale physics. Why should high energy and astro folks have all the fun?
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Weird Al is the man.
Watch this. It's Weird Al's new video. Bonus points for having the Schroedinger equation show up. This may be my favorite Weird Al song since The Saga Begins.
Doug, I just checked the Wikipedia page on "white and nerdy" to discover that the equation in the video has an error. Without checking the wiki, can you find the mistake? Two bonus points to the first of your blog readers who post the answer. No cheating (even though I did).
Dan - you're on. I see no mistake. At 1:35 into the video, the equation reads (in LaTeX): \left[ -\frac{\hbar^2}{2 \mu} \nabla^{2} - \frac{e^2}{r}\right] \psi(r) = E \psi(r). This is exactly the time-independent Schr. Eq. for the relative coordinate for positronium, where \mu is the reduced mass. Now I'll look at the wiki to see what it says....
Kirk or Picard? That's no contest for any true nerd - Picard. No, the real conundrum is Data or Spock?
ReplyDeleteDoug, that is hilarious. I think we should nominate Wierd Al for an honorary degree. Can you think of a better commencement speaker? Not a chance.
ReplyDeleteDoug, I just checked the Wikipedia page on "white and nerdy" to discover that the equation in the video has an error. Without checking the wiki, can you find the mistake? Two bonus points to the first of your blog readers who post the answer. No cheating (even though I did).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDan - you're on. I see no mistake. At 1:35 into the video, the equation reads (in LaTeX): \left[ -\frac{\hbar^2}{2 \mu} \nabla^{2} - \frac{e^2}{r}\right] \psi(r) = E \psi(r). This is exactly the time-independent Schr. Eq. for the relative coordinate for positronium, where \mu is the reduced mass. Now I'll look at the wiki to see what it says....
ReplyDeleteDoh! The wiki is absolutely right, and my LaTeX in the previous comment is absolutely wrong. Damn!
ReplyDelete