Theoretical Definition and 999 Threads

I am currently enrolled at a US university as an undergrad physics major, and my interest is in theoretical particle physics/quantum mechanics. I am wondering if for the sake of theoretical physics it would be wise to dual-major in mathematics as well at the slight expense of some of the other...

Homework Statement A car weighs 2200 lbs, has a peak torque of 750 lb ft at 6500 RPM. Assume a CVT and racing differential keeps the power to all four wheels of the car constant and equal. What is the theoretical 0 to 60 mph time? Homework Equations Fd = \frac{1}{2}m v_f ^2 -...

Dear PFer's, I just finished reading the first chapter of Lee Smolin's famous "The Trouble with Physics". The first chapter of the book is titled "The Five Great Problems in Theoretical Physics" and is the source of the questions I want to post. I searched PF for similar posts, but I found...

I want a book on particle physics which contains lots of theoretical calculations.All books recommended in my class contain lots of experimental techniques and very little about theory.I like "Introduction to Elementary Particles" by D Griffiths.Is there any book like Griffiths?

Hi, I'm new to the forums here, so please forgive me if this is the wrong place to post. I'm currently a junior in high school, and from an early age I was put in all the "gifted" classes. Which kind of put pressure on me to choose a career like physics. Despite all the pressure I always loved...

Hi, I have heard from multiple sources that you need good research record to be admitted to any top grad school and most of them want recommendations from research groups, on other hand, most professors who do theory consider undergrads not to be qualified enough to help them in any manner...

Author: ZapperZ Originally posted on Mar12-14 I see that statement surprisingly often enough on the Academic Guidance forum. I also hear this often whenever I talk to high school students who are interested in doing physics, or even new undergraduate students thinking of majoring in physics...

I'm reading the book The Theoretical Minimum. I wonder if two one of the problems in the book can be thought of graphically. The mathematical solution didn't even occur to me, although it make perfect sense and probably should have been obvious. 1. Can you explain why the dot product of two...

Hi all, I've been toying with an idea lately and I'm wondering if any of you could help me out. Is there any method you know of to heat an area roughly 5 nm in diameter? I've thought about laser radiation for a while, but of course we are limited by wavelength. 5 nm would force us into the...

Hello I just finished my second year at university, my major is electrical engineering.I took classical mechanics and electricity & magnetism and I really liked them.Do you think I can handle Landau and Lifschitz books on theoretical physics.I am concerned about the mathematics in the books, at...

Would it be possible to make a working jet engine by simply having a structure like two metal cones stuck tip to tip (traffic cone shaped)? The idea is to get it going fast, inject fuel in the middle, have the fuel auto ignite due to compression heating in the front cone, and than use the back...

I had an argument at my university about it, since experiments at LHC aren't 100% confirmed. I mean, gauge theories are.. theories and Goldstone bosons are theorems. Someone share some light plese?

I'm a high school student . I'll start a self learning of physics and maths . I want to be theoretical physicist . I'm especially interested in gravitational physics . I wonder which website advice below is better to follow ? Why ? ...

I write as one with a background in molecular biology and nothing in engineering. Looking to advance an idea of using a former rocket fuel for a terrestrial purpose. A mixture of liquid oxygen and ethanol was used in past decades.. What engine elements would be required to convert this fuel...

Hey everyone... I have a question about free fall and acceleration. I recently had a question on an exam that went something like this. "A ball is thrown directly up from a building 59.4 meters high. It barely misses the building on its way down and hits the ground 4 seconds after being...

Hi all! Recently, I came to know about Perimeter Institute's "PSI," which is an intensive, 1 year long, coursework based program in Theoretical Physics culminating in an M.S. degree. Similarly, there is the Pre-PhD-Program offered by ICTP, Italy. I have had 2 years of Physics training...

I am interested in getting a PhD in Physics, but I do not want to teach. However, I do want to conduct research, is there anyway, I can have a job as a theoretical physicist working to participate in researches, maybe work in CERN, for the large haldron collider or something, without teaching in...

I have a question regarding the different fields I mentioned in the title. What exactly are the differences? I'm currently majoring in mechanical engineering, with plans of going into aerospace engineering. However, I was wondering what different fields are involved in coming up with new...

Hello, 1. I am puzzled about which to be : theoretical physicist or pure mathematician ! what should i do ? 2. If i decided to be a theoretical physicist : should i study some pure maths to make new theory in physics ? Like general relativity : the maths used on it was before it a pure maths...

Hi, I'm entering my senior year as an undergraduate and will soon be applying to grad school. I go to a small university that has an excellent undergraduate research policy which has allowed me to have experienced working in experimental and theoretical(computational) physics. I know one of the...

Hello, forum. So, I'm going to be starting my first year at the University of British Columbia next year and, although I might be seriously ahead of myself, I am very much stressing over what degree and courses I am going to be taking for the next four years. Being at the education level at...

Hi everyone. I'm a graduate student and am struggling with something that may possibly be trivial. So, my research is creating a mathematical model to represent a real system. I have data points from my real system that I want to compare my model to. How do I do a regression analysis and get...

Hi, I would like to ask HOW you become a theoretical physicist. By how, I mean what classes are needed? What is college like for one studying to become a theoretical physicist?I would like to specialize in Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Of course this all depends on what college you attend...

Hello! This is my second thread in here. I'm just finished my high school and waiting for the results to get admission in an undergrad physics program. I was confused about career guidance and academic guidance feel free to move my thread if I'm in the wrong place I was wondering about major...

Hey Guys, I'm a junior in High School and am trying to be proactive by having an idea on what I want to major in once I get to college. (Yes I know it's far too early) From a young age I excelled in both Math and Science and have always had a natural pull to physics. For years I've had...

Hi, I am an undergraduate senior with physics major. I am searching for masters programme in HEP/Theoretical physics (in Europe but not in U.K). So far I have found these programs 1. (LMU) http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/TMP/about_us/index.html 2. (ETH+EP)...

Hello, Some basic info on me -- I graduated with a bachelors in physics and am about to receive a masters, both from very highly regarded institutions and with good performances. All my research and coursework focus has been in theoretical astrophysics & high energy. I have had experience...

Hi. My purpose is to take a phd in physics, and after few years as researcher to become a Quant. What phd is better for this purpose: computational, theoretical or mathematical physics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_physics

I'm a junior in university right now, hoping to attend grad school for physics. At my school, all physics students have a senior research project, and the professor that I'm most likely going to do my project with is a string theorist. The project is very theoretical (i.e. no computers; purely...

I am looking for a way to map gases over a city, what are some ways I could do that? This is a theoretical experiment so cost is not an issue. Thanks in advance

I'm about to begin my third year of a physics major and I want to do units that will best prepare me for honours and post-grad studies in theoretical particle physics and/or particle cosmology. My core physics units will cover quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, electrodynamics, special...

What do I lose from an astronomy/astrophysics candidates course, contrasted with a theoretical physics degree? Astrophysics is broader, and in that sense more appealing. However, I wonder if I am allowed to write about quantum mechanics as an undergraduate, in a theoretical astrophysics...

Hey guys, I'm new here! I will soon transfer to a 4 year Uni to get an undergraduate in Physics which is simple enough. Where I need advice is the Doctoral and Graduate degrees. I want to work in Theoretical Physics but I understand there are specific specializations you have to choose according...

I'm considering both the MSc in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces at Imperial and the Perimeter Scholars International program at Perimeter. I do not currently live in the UK or Canada (or even Europe or North America...) I want to continue to a PhD, possibly at the same place I did my...

I am wanting to calculate the theoretical packs per minute of a machine. The machine pushes packs into a indexing conveyor and is transported along the conveyor and is cross pushed on to an exit conveyor. Each pack is 144 mm long and the machine indexes every 0.65s plus a 1.4 second dwell for...

First-Order Extrema in "Classical Mechanics", Theoretical Minimum In the 3rd lecture of Classical Mechanics, 2011, by Dr. Susskind in his Theoretical Minimum series, he talks about calculating extrema, saddle points, etc. to "first order". "if you move a little bit, the potential is zero, to...

Homework Statement Let A,B, and C be subsets of universal set U. Prove the following A. If U=A union B and intersection of A and B is not an empty set, then A= U\B B. A\(B intersection C) = (A\B) union (A\C) Homework Equations no relevant equations required The Attempt at a...

Hello, I am in my third year of a 4 year integrated MPhys at the University of Liverpool, and I'm starting to think about applying to PhD places. Me and my girlfriend are intending to move to London when we graduate, so I'm planning on getting a job as a graduate software developer or some...

I'm a PhD student in theoretical physics, and I am just amazed by how much physicists working in my field actually know. I am currently studying QFT and plan on going a bit deeper into General Relativity afterwards, but look at people like Rovelli or Susskind (just two names that came to my...

As the title suggest I wish after I finish my higher degree to be involved in a research based career, as far as I can tell postdoc is for continuing in academia and also teaching, which I am not fond of. So which options are available without wanting to teach?

If anyone out there has worked through Susskind's book, I have two questions on the Lagrangian to Hamiltonian section, any help would be greatly appreciated: 1) In Lecture 8 exercise 2, he wants you to calculate take the Lagrangian of L=1/2ω d/dt q - ω/2 q^2 as a Hamiltonian and says it...

Can anyone suggest any? I have all of the coursework for a PhD, So I'm not afraid of anything but I will have lots of questions.

We consider a matrix A, NxN.Show that if for every NxN matrix B we have AB=BA,then the matrix A is of the form:A=γI. When I first looked at this exercise,the first I thought was to assume that A=γI is true and replace A in AB=BA=>γB=Bγ=γB,which is true.But then I noticed that I have "=>" and...

Theoretical methods for the realization of tech. enabled "telekinesis" Ok, so the title is rather self explanatory, but essentially I am just curious as to everyone's opinions on a Theoretical method for the realization of technology enabled telekinesis. So first let me lay down a few...

What is the theoretical max velocity for a gunpowder fired bullet that we use today in all guns and artillery? What is the MAIN limiting/deciding factor? I'm guessing it would be the gunpowder burn speed/pressure increase right? Now what about theoretical max velocity for...

What does it take to be a Theoretical Physicist. and what are the job oppurtunities Sorry about the title. :D

I am a philosophy student at candidates level. However, my dream is to study theoretical physics at a university. The ambition is NOT to become a great physicist (neccesarily). My goal is to be eligible for university studies and understand basic courses. So, is it required to be gifted...

Author: Alexander L. Fetter Title: Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486432610/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Homework Statement I did an experiment investigating what effect height has on force and now i need a theoretical value to compare it to Homework Equations f=ma but i don't think acceleration is constant here The Attempt at a Solution f=ma f=0.104x9.8 f=1.01 i got 49 N with...

Hi, I’d like to start some discussion about the utility of modern theoretical physics. • How important is the development of theory in the more applied fields of physics like biophysics, condensed matter? Are there relatively recent examples when a theoretical result was instrumental to the...