The Transistor as a Digital Switch

Shear-thinning, or pseudoplasticity, is a non-Newtonian behavior where a fluid's viscosity decreases with an increasing rate of shear stress. Many common substances, like ketchup or paint, exhibit this property. At rest, they are thick, but they flow more easily when shaken, stirred, or spread. This is often modeled by the Ostwald–de Waele power-law relationship.

Thixotropy and rheopexy describe time-dependent changes in viscosity. A thixotropic fluid's viscosity decreases over time under constant shear stress (e.g., yogurt becomes runnier when stirred). A rheopectic (or anti-thixotropic) fluid's viscosity increases over time under constant shear (e.g., some lubricants). These effects are reversible; the fluid returns to its original state after a period of rest.

The Weissenberg effect is a phenomenon in viscoelastic fluids where the fluid climbs up a rotating rod inserted into it. This is contrary to the behavior of Newtonian fluids, which are pushed outwards by centrifugal force, forming a vortex. The effect is caused by normal stress differences that develop in the fluid under shear.

Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) is a reliability metric representing the predicted elapsed time between inherent failures of a repairable system. For systems with a constant failure rate [latex]\lambda[/latex], MTBF is its reciprocal: [latex]MTBF = 1/\lambda[/latex]. This simple relationship is fundamental in reliability engineering for predicting system uptime and planning maintenance schedules, assuming failures follow an exponential distribution.

CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is the dominant technology for constructing integrated circuits. It uses complementary pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFETs to build logic gates. Its primary advantage is very low static power consumption, as one transistor in the pair is always off during steady state, resulting in minimal current flow except during switching transitions.

A Single-Electron Transistor (SET) is a switching device that uses controlled electron tunneling to manipulate the flow of single electrons. It consists of a quantum dot (the 'island') coupled to source and drain leads via tunnel junctions, and capacitively coupled to a gate electrode. Its operation relies on the Coulomb blockade effect, enabling extreme sensitivity and low power consumption.

All quantum entities, such as photons and electrons, exhibit both particle and wave properties. Depending on the experimental setup, they can behave like a localized particle or a distributed wave. The de Broglie hypothesis states that any particle with momentum [latex]p[/latex] has an associated wavelength [latex]\lambda = h/p[/latex], where [latex]h[/latex] is Planck's constant.

This is a fundamental equation in quantum mechanics that describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes over time. It is a linear partial differential equation for the wavefunction, [latex]\Psi(x, t)[/latex]. The time-dependent version is [latex]i\hbar\frac{\partial}{\partial t}\Psi = \hat{H}\Psi[/latex], where [latex]\hat{H}[/latex] is the Hamiltonian operator, representing the total energy of the system.

A non-Newtonian fluid is one whose viscosity changes under an applied shear stress. Unlike a Newtonian fluid where viscosity is constant, its flow properties are not described by a linear relationship between shear stress ([latex]\tau[/latex]) and shear rate ([latex]\dot{gamma}[/latex]). This dependency can manifest as shear-thinning (viscosity decreases with stress) or shear-thickening (viscosity increases with stress).

Plasticity is the theory describing the deformation of a solid material undergoing non-reversible changes of shape in response to applied forces. Unlike elasticity, where deformation is recovered upon unloading, plastic deformation is permanent. The theory involves a yield criterion to define the onset of plasticity, a flow rule to describe the evolution of plastic strain, and a hardening rule.

The Deborah number is a dimensionless quantity in rheology, used to characterize the fluidity of materials. It is the ratio of the relaxation time, which is an intrinsic property of the material, to the characteristic time scale of the experiment or observation. The formula is [latex]De = \frac{t_c}{t_p}[/latex], where [latex]t_c[/latex] is the relaxation time and [latex]t_p[/latex] is the observation time.

Repeatability assesses precision under identical conditions, while reproducibility assesses precision when one or more conditions change, such as the operator, instrument, or location. Reproducibility variance is always greater than or equal to repeatability variance. This distinction is crucial for understanding measurement variability, especially in inter-laboratory comparisons where conditions are inherently different.

Molecular electronics explores using individual molecules or nanoscale molecular collections as fundamental electronic components. This approach aims to build circuits at the ultimate limit of miniaturization, far beyond traditional silicon-based technology. Key components include molecular wires, switches, and rectifiers, leveraging quantum mechanical properties like electron tunneling through molecular orbitals for their function.

General relativity predicts that accelerating masses generate ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves. These waves propagate outwards at the speed of light, carrying energy as gravitational radiation. They are created by cataclysmic cosmic events like the merger of black holes or neutron stars, causing spacetime to stretch and squeeze as they pass.