Better physics terminology
In theoretical physics, most stuff is named after the person who
discovered it shouted it the loudest first (see for instance
Stigler’s
law and Scientific
Priority). I have a whole range of issues with this - it is a
self-serving intergenerational contract, these names are horribly
undescripive, they tend to leave out important people, it sets the wrong
incentives, etc.. So here’s my list of proposals for better
terminology:
General
- Lagrangian (density) -> action (density)
- Hamiltonian (density) -> phase-space flow, temporal translation/time evolution operator, energy
- Euler-Lagrange equation -> (action) extremalizing equation
Electrodynamics
- Maxwell equation(s) -> electrodynamic equations
- Lorentz force -> electromagnetic force
- Poynting vector -> (electromagnetic) energy current
- Dirichlet boundary condition -> fixed-field boundary condition
- von Neumann boundary condition -> fixed-derivative boundary condition
Tensor algebra
- Kronecker delta -> identity (tensor)
- Levi-Civita symbol -> pseudoscalar
- antisymmetric rank 2 tensor -> bivector (e.g. electromagnetic field bivector, relativistic angular momentum bivector)
Quantum mechanics
- Pauli algebra -> geometric algebra of space
- Dirac algebra -> geometric algebra of spacetime
- Dirac operator -> geometric derivative/vector derivative
Quantum field theory
Weyl fermion -> chiral fermion
Dirac fermion -> (complex) bichiral fermion
Majorana fermion -> realified bichiral fermion
Klein-Gordon field -> scalar boson field
Yukawa coupling -> scalar-fermion coupling
Fermi coupling -> four-fermion coupling
Wick expansion -> (anti)commutative expansion
Feynman diagram -> perturbative diagram, tensor diagram, wavemode diagram
LSZ reduction formula -> amputation formula
Grassmann numbers -> anticommuting numbers, a-numbers
Wilson loop -> parallel transport loop
Standard Model
- Weinberg-Salam/Higgs * -> electroweak *
- Higgs * -> barygenic *
- CKM matrix -> quark mixing matrix
- PMNS matrix -> neutrino mixing matrix
Special relativity
- Minkowski/Lorentz * -> spacetime *
- ultra-relativistic -> photoid
General relativity
- Christoffel symbols -> connection (coefficients)
- Levi-Civita connection -> torsion-free metric connection
- Riemann tensor -> curvature tensor
- Ricci tensor -> reduced curvature tensor
- Ricci scalar -> curvature scalar
- Einstein tensor -> conserved curvature tensor
- Friedman-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker metric -> space-scaling metric
- energy-momentum tensor/stress-energy tensor -> 4-momentum 4-current / momergy churrent