serkan zorba's blog

Spin quantum number is the fourth parameter needed to uniquely describe the quantum state of a, say, fermion such as an electron. It was originally postulated by the brilliant, albeit caustic, Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli. Shortly afterwards some physicists interpreted it as self-rotation. Pauli himself was not happy with this interpretation because a quick calculation shows that such a mechanical supposition requires a superluminal rotation of the electron's "surface," which goes counter to the dictates of the special theory of relativity. So how is quantum spin explained then? Is there a physical model for it? The standard answer to these questions is that we are supposed to think of quantum spin as a two-valued intrinsic quantum degree of freedom, corresponding to an "intrinsic" angular momentum, with no classical analog . And the majority of physicists follow this catechism. But I don't! When self-rotation so neatly explains the two-valuedn

As someone originally from Turkey (of Kurdish background) who follows the international news fairly closely, I have been particularly alarmed by the level of unfair and grossly inaccurate journalism vis-a-vis Turkey, post-Arab Spring. Here is a country that----under Erdogan's leadership----managed to turn its past economic and democratic dismal-self around remarkably in the last decade or so, and became, for the last couple of years, perhaps the most humanitarian of all governments, by allowing, and taking care of, some 3 million Syrian and Iraqi (Arabs, Kurds, Yezidis, Christians etc.) refugees  into its territory. But according to the most Western media, Turkey seems to be a horrible place where journalists are jailed and minorities are oppressed.  I urge you to investigate all these claims, looking at the arguments from both sides, not just the smug claims made by some in the Western media. For example, many of the journalists or people in question would face similar, if no