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It was hard to miss the 2011 OPERA neutrino speed measurement that indicated superluminal neutrino speeds (and turned out to be a measurement error), but measurements of neutrino masses and speeds have a long tradition. Neutrinos are very light particles that interact via the weak interaction and gravity only. There are three types of neutrinos:…
At this point, you have completed writing your thesis, your adviser has approved of it, and you have distributed it to all the members of your thesis committee. It is now time for you to do your thesis defense. Officially, this is the final obstacle standing in your way between you and your…
At this stage, you have performed your doctoral research work, maybe even have published (or about to publish) a paper or two, and may have presented your work at a physics conference. It is time for you to think about finishing this part of your life. However, before you can do that, you…
I mentioned earlier that there are two ways for physicists to communicate their work. The first is via publications in peer-reviewed journals. I have covered this in the last chapter of this series. The second, which we will cover here, is through oral presentations at various scientific conferences. Each year, there are scientific…
Your First Scientific Paper Ought to be good! Structure and Contents of a Master Degree Thesis This guide was written some years ago as a guideline for students at the Physics Master level at the University of Oslo. I had at that time been the final censor for about 30 students, and I was getting…
Now, where were we? Oh yes! You have now started with your actual research work. You and your adviser have agreed on at least the general type of area you will be working in and you have started to do a lot of literature search of what is going on in that field,…
It has been a while since the last installment of this series, so let’s recap on where you are right now. You should already made a choice on the physics subject area that you want to work in, and you have picked an advisor who will be (i) supervising your Ph.D. research work…
In the previous part, I described the trials and tribulations of going through the qualifying exam that almost all graduate physics students have to go through. In this part, we will assume that you got through that very difficult part of your graduate program and now ready to do some serious, real physics…
You are now entering your first year of graduate school. In terms of the academic aspect, you will have a set of required courses that you must take. Typically, these courses would be advanced classical mechanics (at the level of Goldstein), advanced QM (at the level of Merzbacher and Sakurai), and advanced E&M (at…
I have decided to tackle this issue because it became a very common question in many physics forums. Can someone, without a degree in physics, get accepted and succeed in physics graduate school all the way to obtaining a Ph.D? Obviously, this question cannot be answered easily, because it depends on (i) your…
Summary The article addresses the fundamental question, “What is energy?” and explores why discussions about energy can be challenging. It introduces the Newtonian mechanics definition of energy, which defines energy as the capacity of a system to do work and work as a force applied over a distance. The concept of kinetic energy, derived from…
We are still discussing the final year of your undergraduate education. So far, we have covered what you need to consider if you want to go on to graduate school and prepare yourself as best as you can for that part of your journey. This is the “traditional” path that many physics students…
Summary The article explores the measurement of the number of days in a year, considering various definitions of a “day” and a “year.” It starts with the common knowledge of a year consisting of 365 days, with leap years having 366 days. The concept of a “stellar day,” based on Earth’s rotation with respect to…
We are still stuck in the discussion of your fourth and final year of college. This time, I feel that a clear explanation of the US graduate school system is warranted, especially to others from the rest of the world who intend to continue their graduate education in the US. This is because…
We are still discussing the final year of your undergraduate program where you are in the midst of applying to graduate schools. In Part 5, I mentioned the word ”assistantship” several times, and it is important that you understand what this is, and why you should apply for it. So this part of the…
We have now reached the final year of your undergraduate program. By now, you would have gone through courses in the fundamental pillars of physics (Classical mechanics, Quantum mechanics, and E&M), and even courses in Thermodynamics/Statistical Physics. Academically, this is where you start taking more advanced courses, even some graduate-level courses. There are plenty…
About Physics Forums Insights What exactly is Physics Forums (PF) Insights? The PF Insights is a science and math blog with over 650 posts that started in April of 2015 with many different expert writers. Writers work independently on their own entries, but all contribute to the same blog. The blog is organized by top-level…
So far, I have covered what I believe a student needs all the way to the end of the 2nd year of studies. In most schools in the US, an undergraduate must have a declared major by the end of the 2nd year (if not sooner). So by now, you should already be officially…
Part III: Mathematical Preparations In most universities in the US, a student must have a declared major by the end of his or her second year. So this is an important transition – making the commitment in a particular area of study. By now, if you have followed the first two chapters of this…
In 1981, Mermin published a paper[1], “Bringing home the atomic world: Quantum mysteries for anybody” in which he explained the mystery of quantum nonlocality[2] without requiring the formalism of quantum mechanics (QM). I will summarize that argument then show how the QM formalism fits his results and how his device is instantiated in Elitzur & Dolev’s quantum liar experiment (QLE)[3]. The quantum state…
Part II: Surviving the First Year of College This part covers the survival tips of the first two undergraduate years. So now you’re in college, and you have every intention to be a physics major (actually, what I’m about to describe applies to anyone who is taking a physics class, not just for physics…
So You Want to Be a Physicist: A 22 Part Guide Introduction: The motivation for creating the series One of the most frequent questions we get in various physics forums and IRC physics channels (besides the annoying ”can anything travel faster than c?”) is the process and background of being a physics major. Often,…
The prospect of designer babies has been a staple of the dystopian futures imagined by science-fiction writers, evoking fears of eugenics (e.g. Brave New World) or social inequality (e.g. Gattaca). However, new advances in gene editing technologies, in particular, the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, are bringing this piece of science fiction closer to reality….
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PF Insights Writing Guidelines Follow these guidelines when writing for PF Insights, and refer to them before submitting content. What is PF Insights? PF Insights is a community blog for science and math related content. PF Insights is a single blog where many writers contribute to it. The attitude of the blog is friendly with a coat of professionalism. It…
Discussing science online can often be a frustrating experience if no quality controls are in place, which is often the case. As part useful reference and part entertainment PF has put together an adequate list of common attributes associated with dubious scientific discussion. Next time you’re in a discussion, check this list to see if…
Meet a Mentor is a series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today we meet: Mark44 How did you become interested in mathematics? Along about 4th grade I came across an algebra textbook that really fascinated me, with all of its x’s and y’s, and symbols…