Talk Like A Physicist

Tuesday Physics Tattoo: Pi Day edition

This is a remarkable tattoo of the Basel equation and Pi.

I wanted to post this tattoo in the Pi edition to show that the magical number Pi appears at the strangest of places. One would not have expected the summation of inverse squares of integers to add up to some combination related to Pi, but here it is.

This little baby is also due to Euler. In 1644 Mengoli asked if anyone could find a closed-form value (and prove it rigorously) for the infinite sum of the reciprocals of the squares. So, what is 1+1/4+1/9+1/16……. and so forth off to infinity. Contrary to intuition this series does not diverge to infinity. Although we are adding infinitely-many positive amounts together we still get a finite number. This is because the positive amounts that we are adding are getting smaller sufficiently fast. It was known that this sum was approximately 1.644. However, when Mengoli asked for a closed-form value he was looking for an EXACT expression, not a decimal approximation. In 1735 Euler found the closed-form solution. If you continue to Tattoo Number 4 part 2 you will see the sum.

Source Doctordani

More about Basel Function here.

Talking about the strangest places Pi appears, I wasn’t thinking of Pi being on PeppermintStripe’s lips. I bet she can recite 100 digits of Pi, easy! This is really cool.

Source: PeppermintStrips’s Deviant Art.

Tuesday Physics Tattoo : Jono’s Maxwell’s Equations

Love the bright red question mark for the Gauss’s law. It leave open the possibility of a magnetic monopole.

Especially since most physicists believe that the magnetic monopoles do exist.

If the magnetic monopoles do exist then the Gauss’s law (third equation) needs to be changed and I think Faraday’s law (second equation) will change too.

Maxwell’s equations tattoo. Source Osunick’s photostream

Equilibirum Tattoo

If you want an “equilibirum” tattoo - you can be very direct about it and just write it out, or you can have an yin-yang or some floral design.

But to show that you really UNDERSTAND what equilibirum means then do what Don Erdman did; get a tattoo of Cauchy’s relation.

My Equalibrium tattoo, needs some touch up next time I am in to get something new.

Alpha tattoo

Hyneck says

The meaning is very private. But it’s an alpha (?) if someone has problems to recognize it.

Source

Pure Pi and e Tattoo

Steve Vallis explains:

The symbol on the left of the image is pi and the symbol on the right is the chinese character for chaos. The dots signify the values of pi and e respectively with each row of dots equating to one digit of each number. I plan to have it extended another 3 or 4 lines lower in the future with the lines fading out to reinforce the infinite nature of the two numbers.

The whole tattoo represents three things to me mainly: infinity, chaos theory (sensitive dependence) and mathematics & patterns in nature. The symbol on the right of my body is Pi.

Tuesday Tattoo - 100 digits of Pi

Another in my series of “Once in a Blue Moon” portraits. This customer had the first 100 digits of Pi tattooed up his arm and shoulder. For those curious I only saw the first 73 of them, though he did offer to remove his shirt right there in the store. We really do have one of the most interesting, and coolest, customer bases. Now too bad I cannot remember which camera I was shooting that day. Think this was the Leica M3…

Credit : Pi by Zeb Andrews.

This is another view of the same Pi tatoo that we saw before:

Black ink tattoo - Euler identity

Euler’s Identity is one of the most fascinating mathematical equation. Interestingly, it also shows 9 concepts of math in a single equation: concepts of : 1, 0, pi, e, i, addition, multiplication, exponentiation, and equality.

Via Cory Doctrow’s Flickr.

Nicholas shared his math tattoo:

To really show the complexity of Euler identity, you need more than one dimensions.

Here is the Euler Identity, in invisible ink. You can only see it under UV lights.

Nicholas’s explains:

I got this tattoo about a month ago. Its a UV tattoo of e^(i pi/2) which using euler’s formula is i. I thought i as an invisible tattoo was a great idea. You could think of a black light as the complex plane.

Infinity Symbol tattoos - Tuesday Physics Tattoos

Infinity and cosmos

Infinite Music from quigoncody

Tuesday Physics Tattoo - Smith Chart

From Chris S’s website at UCSB

The SMITH chart is a graphical calculator that allows the relatively complicated mathematical calculations, which use complex algebra and numbers, to be replaced with geometrical constructs, and it allows us to see at a glance what the effects of altering the transmission line geometry will be.

Here is what a real Smith Chart looks like.

Source Chris’s UCSB website

Drake Equation (to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations) tattoo

Now that we have found and seen actual planets on other stars, it is an appropriate time to discuss the Drake equation again.

The Drake equation attempts to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy with which we might come in contact.

This has to be one of the most delightful tattoo that I have come across. It is a pictorial representation of the Drake Equation.

where:

N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;

and

R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy
fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
fl is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point
fi is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life
fc is the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L is the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

The tattoo above is a pictorial representation of the above seven factors. It starts out with a picture of galaxy and then each of the element of the equation is shown in a pictorial form.

Of course, our friends at XKCD have an extra factor:

Source of tattoo

Taking a physics textbook to the tattoo parlor - awesome Maxwell Equation tattoo

Continuing our series of "Tuesday Tattoos", here is TEH’s awesome Maxwell Equation tattoo on his ankle:

I had mine done nearly two years ago. Attached is photographic proof of how awesome it is to bring a Griffiths text into a tattoo parlor.

Notice that the equations oscillate about my ankle, as if they were mediated by a virtual photon.

The Griffith book that he is referring to is "Introduction to Electrodynamics".

I asked him if he really took the Griffiths book to the tattoo parlor and he quipped:

Indeed, Griffiths was brought to the parlor. I’m pretty sure that Griffiths texts should be brought everywhere.

TEH

And I couldn’t agree with him more. If you are stranded on a deserted island, and could carry only one book, I highly recommend that you consider carrying the Griffiths Electromagnetism book.

Of course, if I knew that I was going to be on a deserted island and could only take one book, I’d probably refuse to go, but if that choice wasn’t available, I’d take:

"How to build a boat for Dummies"

but Griffiths would be my second choice, honest!

Here are the couple of other Maxwell equation tattoos that we have posted earlier.

Tuesday Physics Tattoos: Maxwell equation and speed of light in dielectric medium

Rev. Brendan F. sent me his intricate Maxwell Equation tattoo. This is very artistic, each letter is exquisitely drawn and the total concept is beautifully done. From the picture it is hard to see the scale, but it seems like a very large tattoo.

And this one is my favorite; it is simple, pure physics tattoo. The beauty is not in the lettering but in the equation itself.

Speed of light in a dielectric media.

Thank you Antonia H. for sharing it with us. She is an Australian writer living in Paris and her Flikr stream is here.

By the way, you can derive the Antonia’s tat equation from Brendan’s tat. And of course, in grand physics tradition, the actual derivation is left as an exercise for the reader.

Extraordinary Fibonacci Tattoo

My half-sleeve after the first sitting. It’s being done without any black ink. At the top is a nautilus shell, … Around the nautilus shell are the first eight numbers in the Fibonacci sequence: 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21. This represents the perceived chaos in nature that is really a careful pattern, often indiscernible without careful observation.

Art by Bones at Fallen Angel Tattoo, Citrus Heights, CA.

Source Tribe net

The Fibonacci Tattoo adorns Bo.

An accomplished fusion Belly Dancer in CA.

In describing the Fibonacci Tattoo, she describes the job of a physicist rather well:

This represents the perceived chaos in nature that is really a careful pattern, often indiscernible without careful observation.

Isn’t that what all physicists do? Carefully observe and descen a pattern!