Physical paradoxes

thought experiment

location in space-time where the gravitational field of a celestial body becomes infinite

set of philosophical problems

early and influential critique leveled against quantum mechanics

lowest possible energy of a quantum system or field

cosmological contradiction between the observed darkness of the night sky and a static universe model

the observation that, in some circumstances, warmer water can freeze faster than colder water

scientific question of whether information can disappear in a black hole

classical physics prediction that black body radiation grows unbounded with frequency

theoretical paradox resulting from time travel

quantum system whose ground state is one in which the particles are in repetitive motion

observation that the pressure depends only on the depth and not on the quantity of liquid

physical phenomenon in which tea leaves in a stirred cup of tea migrate to the center and bottom of the cup

thought experiment in physics

paradox that the number of possible protein-folding configurations is too large, so that it is impossible that the lowest-energy configuration will be found purely thermodynamically

thought experiment in theoretical quantum physics

hydrodynamic theorem

paradox

in physics, the apparent contradiction that time-irreversible macrophysics arises from time-symmetric microphysics

theoretical upper limit on the energy of cosmic ray protons

phenomenon in archery

1901–1903 physics experiment

Quantum phenomena

thought experiment in special relativity: “a string hangs between two spaceships that start accelerating simultaneously equally in an inertial frame; will the string break?”

Physical statement of equivalence between two complementary antenna shapes

nondeterministic Newtonian mechanical system

theorem

thought experiment in physics

paradox relating to fate of universe

apparent paradox in the context of general relativity

Phenomenon Observed In Fluids