Combinatorics and physics Combinatorics and physics Combinatorial physics or physical combinatorics is the area of interaction between physics and combinatorics. "Combinatorial Physics is an emerging area which unites combinatorial and discrete mathematical techniques applied to theoretical physics, especially Quantum Theory.". "Physical combinatorics might be defined naively as combinatorics guided by ideas or insights from physics". Combinatorics has always played an important role in quantum field theory and statistical physics. However, combinatorial physics only emerged as a specific field after a seminal work by Alain Connes and Dirk Kreimer, showing that the renormalization of Feynman diagrams can be described by a Hopf algebra. Combinatorial
Preparation (physics) Preparation (physics) Generally, measuring instruments are meant to get the (pre-)existent value of a physical quantity of a system with as little change of, or interaction with the system as possible. — If a measuring instrument fixes a physical quantity of a physical system for further use (post-existent), then the measurement process is called preparation. For example, a graduated cylinder filled to a definite mark prepares a certain volume of the liquid for further use. Though preparation measures a physical quantity — at least by fixing it — it often destroys previous states of the physical system. This is usually