Dirac Strings, clamp

 

Code Number: 1A50.60

Demo Title:  Dirac Strings

Area of Study: Mechanics

Equipment: 

Dirac Strings

Procedure:

Clamp one end of the string segment to the lecture bench or table.  Twist the strings in the manner shown in the video.  You can also start with the strings already twisted and then untwist them with the correct steps.

References:

  • Oscar Bolina, "Finite Rotations", TPT, Vol. 36, # 8, Nov. 1998, p. 496.
  • Samuel Bernard-Bernardet, Emily Dumas, Benjamin Apffel, "The Spinorial Ball: A Macroscopic Object of Spin 1/2", AJP, Vol. 93, #2, Feb. 2025, p. 164.
  • R. W. Hartung, "Pauli Principle in Euclidean Geometry", AJP, Vol. 47, # 10, Oct. 1979, p. 900. 
  • Edgar Rieflin, "Some Mechanisms Related to Dirac's Strings", AJP, Vol. 47, # 4, April, 1979, p. 379. 
  • Vicki Cobb and Kathy Darling, "Out of Order", Bet You Can't - Science Impossibilities To Fool You, p. 69.
  • Dirac's String Trick, Mathematics and Knots, Edition Limitee 1996.
  • Ronald Brown, "What Should Be the Output of Mathematical Education?"
  • Dirac String Trick, Physics Learning Laboratories, Lecture Demonstration Laboratory, 7B35.30, University of Colorado at Boulder.
  • R. Penrose, W. Rindler, "Spinors and Space-Time", A Textbook, ISBN 0  521  24527  3

University of Maryland Physics Department QOTW Question #269
University of Maryland Physics Department QOTW Answer #269

1A50.60 - Dirac Strings
University of Maryland Physics Department QOTW Question #269
University of Maryland Physics Department QOTW Answer #269 Part 1
University of Maryland Physics Department QOTW Answer #269 Part 2
University of Maryland Physics Department QOTW Answer #269 Part 3