Glossary of Physics Terms to Understand a

Dissertation Defense Better

Jacob Oost
June 15, 2019

1 Intro
Below are definitions of terms that might come up when a theoretical physics
PhD student is defending their dissertation. Especially if they’re in gravity.

Glossary
Action See Lagrangian. The action S is the integral of the Lagrangian,
and we derive the equations of motion by requiring this integral to be
minimized. We often use the terms "action" and "Lagrangian" inter-
changeably. 1

Big Bang See Cosmology. In modeling the Universe as a uniform density

fluid, the equations of General Relativity say that the Universe began
in an very hot, infinitely dense state and then exploded in size very
very very quickly until it cooled to the point where atoms could form
without being blasted apart by ambient light, continued expanding and
cooling, with gravity clumping things together and eventually forming
stars and planets and galaxies. When the theory was initially proposed
it was strongly opposed by atheists since the theory implied that the
Universe had a clear beginning and sounded too much like a creation
story for their liking. The discovery in the 1920s that the Universe
actually is expanding threw cold water on the atheists’ idea of a steady-
state Universe, and the accidental detection of the Cosmic Microwave

1
 Background in the 1960s (the afterglow of the Big Bang) was the final
nail in the coffin for the steady state theory. For some dumb reason,
history got rewritten so that the Big Bang is seen as some kind of
atheist theory or having something to do with Darwinian evolution. 1,
3

Black Body Black body radiation (or black body Spectrum) refers to the
very particular type of light given off by anything above absolute zero.
Well really it’s a mathematical idealization that nothing actually gives
off, but it’s a good approximation. From light bulb filaments to the
Sun to the Universe as a whole, lots of things have a spectrum that is
(approximately) a black body spectrum. 1, 3

Black Hole A region in space where matter is so compactified and the grav-
itational pull is so strong that light can’t escape from within a certain
region. Has now been directly detected via gravitational waves and also
the surrounding orbiting matter of the mega black hole at the center
of the galaxy M87 has been imaged and matched the predictions of
General Relativity. 1, 5

Classical Any theory of physics that is not Quantum, in other words contin-
uous energy, position, momentum, etc. Newtonian physics is classical,
as is classical electrodynamics. Relativity is, by itself, a classical theory
too. 1, 4

Coefficient Just the number that some term in an equation is multiplied

by. In ax+by=c, a is the coefficient of x and b is the coefficient of y.
Theories are full of coefficients. 1, 6

Coordinate System If you paint a grid on your floor, and call one orienta-
tion ’x’ and the other orientation ’y’ then you can describe the position
of anything on your floor in terms of its x and y coordinates. Slap a
grid on a wall, call the verticle orientation ’z’ and you’ve got a coordi-
nate system with which you can given the position of any object in the
room with just three numbers: it’s x, y, and z coordinates. Coordinate
systems can get much crazier than this and have four or more dimen-
sions, but that’s okay. In physics you always need a coordinate system
to describe things like position and time.. 1, 3

2
Coordinate Transformation In physics we’re always working in some Co-
ordinate System, such as 3D Cartesian coordinates like x, y, and z, or
2D polar coordinates like ρ and φ. But there are an infinite number of
coordinate systems, with rules for how to transform all of your equa-
tions and things from one to another, and sometimes one coordinate
system is easier to work in than another. However, we say that the
physics of the Universe do not depend on the coordinate system we
use to describe it, so the laws of physics need to be expressed in a way
that doesn’t change even when we change coordinates. Gravity and
relativity is all about changing coordinates, so this topic is everywhere.
1

Cosmic Microwave Background Or "CMB" for short. See Big Bang.

The Big Bang theory predicts that about 380,000 years after the be-
ginning of the Universe, the Universe had expanded and cooled enough
that it was now transparent to the bath of ambient Black Body light
swishing in every direction and this light from 380,000 years ago was
free to travel through the Universe unimpeded. However, some of this
light reaches Earth, and in the 1960s it was accidentally detected com-
ing from every direction in the sky, corresponding to a black body
temperature of about 2.7 Kelvin, close to the theoretical prediction
made decades earlier. 1

Cosmology The science of the Universe as a whole, where roughly speak-

ing we treat galaxies as if they were molecules in a gas or fluid that
fills the whole universe. On very very large distance scales all these
galaxies are roughly uniformly distributed, as if this Universe fluid had
a constant density. Also, the Universe is expanding, and the expansion
is accelerating instead of slowing down (like you would expect gravity
to do), and nobody knows why. See Dark Energy. 1, 4

Curvature Broadly speaking, if there were no curvature in a space, then

distances could be measured with the Pythagorean Theorem (consider
a right triangle where the hypotenuse lies on the line between two points
and the x and y axes of a given Coordinate System are aligned with the
other two sides of the triangle, if you change coordinate systems you will
have a different x and y but the distance doesn’t change). If distances
cannot be measured this way (such as on a round surface like a globe)
then a formula other than the Pythagorean theorem must be used to

3
 determine the distance. Generalizing to Spacetime, the "distance" in
spacetime is given by a function called the Metric, which can be thought
of as a higher-dimensional generalization of the Pythagorean theorem.
1, 5, 6

Dark Energy See Cosmology. We’ve known the Universe was expanding
since Hubble discovered this fact in the 1920s and surprised Einstein
and all the other scientists. But we figured that this expansion must be
slowing down since gravity attracts. However, careful measurement in
the 1990s showed that this expansion is actually speeding up, surprising
everybody again. This is one of the biggest mysteries in physics, and
part of the reason for proposing new theories of gravity is to provide a
possible explanation. Totally different from Dark Matter. 1, 3, 4

Dark Matter When observing the rotation rates of galaxies, they don’t
move like we expect, based on the mass that is visible (i.e. glowing stars
and such). The same goes for giant clusters of stars crashing through
each other. There is so much "missing mass" that we conjecture a form
of matter called "dark matter" (until we know what it is) that interacts
gravitationally but not via any other Force. This simple assumption
makes everything work out, but we still don’t know what it really is.
This is one of the biggest mysteries in physics, and part of the reason for
proposing new theories of gravity is to provide a possible explanation.
Totally different from Dark Energy. 1, 4

Electrodynamics The Theory governing phenomena such as electric charge,

current, and electric and magnetic fields. Classical electrodynamics was
developed in the 1800s and covers a wide variety of phenomena. Quan-
tum electrodynamics was developed before and after WW2 and is the
most accurate theory in all of science. 1, 8

Field Just a mathematical function that has a value for every point in space
and time (over some domain). May correspond directly to a physically-
measurable quantity such as an electric field, velocity field in a fluid, or
gravitational field; or may have a more abstract meaning. In relativity,
we’re always dealing with fields. 1, 6, 8

Force Either a regular old Newtonian force (F=ma) or one of the four funda-

4
 mental forces (or interactions): the gravitational force, the electromag-
netic force, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force. Rel-
atively speaking, gravity is considered to be the least well-understood
of the four. 1, 4

Gamma Ray Burst Or GRB. A short burst of very high-energy photons,

such as is believed to be caused by the crashing together of two Neutron
Stars or other phenomena. 1

General Relativity GR for short. Einstein’s theory of Gravity (1915-ish).

Provides a geometrical explanation for gravity. More accurate than
Newton’s theory of gravity, and so far has passed every observational
test (accurately explains a quirk in Mercury’s orbits, the deflection of
light by mass, weird time phenomena, gravitational waves, the list of
accurate predictions goes on and on), but for technical reasons cannot
be the final word on gravity and physicists are searching for a more
complete theory. GPS systems would not work without taking GR
into account. 1, 2, 6, 9

Gravitational Wave A ripple in spacetime that is caused by matter mov-

ing around, such as two Black Holes orbiting each other. First detected
directly in 2015 (indirect detections were done in the 1970s), it causes
lengths and times to oscillate, and the waveform carries all the infor-
mation about the two bodies that collided. 1, 6

Gravity Newtonian gravity says that objects with mass exhibit an attrac-
tion to each other that becomes greater as the distance between them
gets smaller. Einsteinian gravity says that gravity is due to matter and
energy inducing a Curvature on the Spacetime and that objects travel-
ing unimpeded through space will follow curved trajectories when there
is matter nearby, due to this curvature. It also predicts different time
and length effects, such as time itself running faster on a satellite in
high altitude than an identical clock on the ground (this is a real, mea-
surable effect that GPS systems have to take into account). It has
been said that "matter tells spacetime how to curve, and spacetime
tells matter how to move". 1, 5, 6, 9

Hypothesis A proposed explanation for some phenomenon. Different from

a Theory. When non-scientists say "I have a theory..." they mean "I

5
 have a hypothesis..." Vaguely speaking, when there is enough support-
ing evidence for a hypothesis people start calling it a theory, although
in theoretical physics we also sometimes call a hypothesis a theory right
from the get-go if we have a Lagrangian for it. Confusing? You’ll get
used to the different connotations! Different branches of science may
have different uses of both terms. 1, 9

Kinetic Energy Energy associated with motion or a field changing over

time. Contrast with Potential Energy. 1, 6, 7

Lagrangian A mathematical formula from which we can derive the equa-

tions of motion for a Field or body. Often expressed as Kinetic Energy
minus Potential Energy. And example Lagrangian for Newtonian Grav-
1 GM m
ity is L = mv 2 + , where m is the mass of the body (such as
2 r
the Earth), M is the mass of another body (such as the Sun), v is the
velocity of the body, r is the distance between the two bodies, and G
is Newton’s constant Coefficient. From this Lagrangian one could de-
GM m
rive Newton’s law of gravitation, ma = . Many if not most new
r2
"theories" in physics are proposed by proposing a new Lagrangian as a
starting point for developing that Theory. 1, 6

LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, the largest and

most sensitive Gravitational Wave detectors currently constructed. One
is in Washington state and the other is in Louisiana, with a third being
planned for India. There are other gravitational wave detectors but
they aren’t as sensitive, LIGO was the first detector to unambiguously
detect a signal (for the first time in 2015 and there have been multiple
detections since then). Eventually there will be space-based detectors
that won’t be susceptible to ground vibrations. 1

Metric See Curvature. The metric is a function (actually a Tensor Field

or a matrix) that tells us how far apart two points in Spacetime are.
General Relativity and similar theories are all about solving differential
equations to find the metric in a given situation. 1, 4, 7, 8

Neutron Star An extremely dense collapsed star made of neutrons. Two

neutron stars crashing into each other was directly detected in 2017

6
 with both gravitational wave detectors and regular telescopes. Some
people think that the more we know about neutron stars, the closer we
come to harnessing fusion power here on Earth, and that continued
gravitational wave detection of neutron star-neutron star mergers will
help. 1, 5

Null Null coordinates, null vectors, etc., are associated with the paths trav-
elled by massless particles like light, or anything else which moves at
the speed of light like gravity. Contrast with Spacelike and Timelike.
1, 7

Potential Energy Energy associated with position or the static configura-

tion of a field. Contrast with Kinetic Energy. 1, 6

Pythagorean Theorem In elementary school we learn that this relates the

length c of the longest side of a right triangle, the hypotenuse, to the
other two shorter sides a and b, so that c2 = a2 + b2 , but what it really
is is a special case of a Metric that tells us how to calculate distances.
1, 3

Quantum Or quantum physics, quantum mechanics, or quantum field the-

ory. The physics of the very small. Once you start getting on the
atomic scale you need to incorporate quantum mechanics. Is funda-
mentally probabilistic, meaning things like the position and velocity of
a particle don’t have a well-defined value but rather have different odds
of taking on certain values. 1, 2, 4, 8

Scalar A quantity with just a regular ol’ number attached to it. The tem-
perature of air at every point in a room could be modeled by a scalar
field. 1, 8

Solution Usually means the solution of a differential equation, in other

words a function, like f(x). 1

Spacelike Spacelike coordinates, spacelike vectors, etc. are associated with

positions in space. If two events are "spacelike separated" then it means
those two events are so far apart spatially that neither one can be the
cause of the other. Contrast with Null and Timelike. 1, 7

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Spacetime You’ve probably seen the Cartesian plane in x-y coordinates,
representing two dimensions (usually two dimensions of space, like
height and width). You may have seen 3D graphs in x-y-z coordinates
(representing spatial dimensions of height, width, and depth). But we
can also treat time as a dimension the same as we treat height, width,
and depth as dimensions, and in relativity we must consider all four
dimensions as forming a cohesive whole we call spacetime since time
and space are inextricably linked to each other in a counter-intuitive
but elegant way described by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Sometimes
we use spacetime synonymously with Metric. 1, 4–6, 9

Special Relativity SR for short. A special, gravity-free case of relativity

(1905). A highly accurate Theory (Quantum Electrodynamics, which
is based on SR, is bar none the most accurate theory in physics), it pre-
dicts weird things like time dilation, length contraction, the equivalence
of mass and energy, and others. 1

Spectrum Take white light and shine it through a prism. The light spreads
into a rainbow on the other side, because different colors travel at
different speeds in glass. Now take the light from glowing hydrogen gas
and shine it through a prism. There is no rainbow, but thin stripes
of particular colors, like a rainbow with gaps. This spectrum is due to
the energy levels that electrons can have in hydrogen atoms (a purely
Quantum effect), and nothing else in the Universe (naturally) gives off
this spectrum, it is like a chemical fingerprint. Helium, argon, neon,
and any other glowing gas of chemical elements or chemical compounds
gives off a unique spectrum. We can use the light from distant objects
to work out what they’re made off and also how fast they are moving
with respect to us. 1, 2

Tensor If you’ve heard of a matrix, you’ve already heard of a kind of ten-

sor. Now imagine a cube matrix, or a four-dimensional matrix, or
even higher! Vectors and Scalars are, in fact, special cases of tensors.
They’re everywhere in gravitational physics because the gravitational
field is modeled by one, via the Metric tensor. 1, 6

Theory A predictive framework, often a set of equations governing the mo-

tion of a body or Field (or its temperature, or its energy, or whatever),
to explain some phenomenon and make new predictions pertaining to

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 it. Different from a Hypothesis, which non-scientists often get confused
by. General Relativity is the dominant theory of Gravity, although for
low-energy, low-speed situations such as the Solar System dynamics,
Newton’s gravity theory is an excellent approximation. Sometimes we
talk about this or that theory, and it may be a well-established theory
with a lot of supporting evidence or it may be a hypothesis–but a hy-
pothesis with the predictive framework (equations and whatnot) that a
theory should have. The word can be used differently in other branches
of science. No matter how well-borne-out by experiment a theory may
be, it is always "just a theory" because there’s no higher category to
ascend to, and because old theories superseded by new ones are not
necessarily cast aside if they’re still accurate enough within their own
domains. For example Newtonian gravity is used for most spacecraft
even though General Relativity is more accurate, because it is much
easier to work with and is accurate enough for the kinds of things that
spacecraft are asked to do. As Einstein said, nature never says "yes" to
a theory, it just says "maybe" or "no". 1, 4–6, 8

Timelike Timelike coordinates, timelike vectors, timelike trajectories, etc.

are associated with the paths travelled by ordinary matter. Anything
that has mass follows a timelike trajectory in Spacetime, whether it’s
sitting still or moving or whatever. 1, 7

Vector This term has many uses in physics, but for gravitation you can think
of them as a big grid of tiny imaginary arrows in space(time) pointing in
some direction. I often use "vector" and "vector field" interchangeably
even though I shouldn’t. An electric field or a velocity field in a fluid are
vector fields. Imagine the surface of a river has little arrows floating
over it that aim in the direction that water is flowing at that point.
That’s a vector field. 1, 8