/sci/ - Thread 16919066

Anonymous
How to into theoretical physics 02/23/26(Mon)16:22:21 No.16919066

How to into theoretical physics Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)16:22:21 No.16919066 [Reply]▶

I thought I knew what physics was about and it was particles and forces and fields and galaxies and crap, but apparently none of that and it’s actually tensors and spinors and gauge groups and fiber bundles and crap. I’ve been trying to learn quantum theory and relativity from Curt Jaimungal’s podcast, but I went in expecting familiar “physics” language. Wtf is all the math jargon, what do I need to learn, what even field of math are they using? I only went up to Algebra 1 in high school, I went into accounting after so didn’t think I needed any math beyond that.

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Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)18:56:45 No.16919161

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)18:56:45 No.16919161▶

>>16919066
>I’ve been trying to learn quantum theory and relativity from Curt Jaimungal’s podcast
Why would you do that?
Just read a book nigger

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:00:57 No.16919164

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:00:57 No.16919164▶

>>16919161
>read a book
this is probably some sort of epicenter of the problem.

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:01:19 No.16919165

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:01:19 No.16919165▶

>>16919161
Conversations are entertaining and books generally are not

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:03:00 No.16919166

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:03:00 No.16919166▶

Beside the point anyhow. I wouldn’t know which book to buy. I don’t know what genre of math I’m supposed to be learning in order to understand this stuff, and I don’t want to waste time learning math I don’t need to know to get the jist

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:08:24 No.16919172

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:08:24 No.16919172▶

>>16919166
>I don’t know what genre of math
Analysis, Linear Algebra, Complex Analysis, Differential Geometry, Functional Analysis.
Then you can start with physics. Analytical Mechanics, Electro Dynamics, Special Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory.
>I don’t want to waste time learning math I don’t need to know to get the jist
Don't waste your time learning qft then. And don't waste your time listening to grifters like Curt.

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:09:53 No.16919176

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:09:53 No.16919176▶

>>16919172
The other 4 are easy but DG is hard as shit for me.

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:11:22 No.16919180

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:11:22 No.16919180▶

>>16919176
NOT OP btw, but I just wanted to comment. I can barely figure out what a connection or metric tensor is for some reason even though I know the other 4/5 like the back of my hand.

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:15:01 No.16919183

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:15:01 No.16919183▶

>>16919176
Not only is it difficult, the notation requires a different kind of intuition from the previous topics, and conventions feel like they change from author to author.

Anonymous
02/23/26(Mon)19:16:47 No.16919186

Anonymous 02/23/26(Mon)19:16:47 No.16919186▶

>>16919172
I’m happy to learn the “relevant” math and thanks for the list. I meant I don’t want to waste time on some area of math that I don’t need to study to get to that specific genre of math. There are lots of intermediate and tangential paths to math that I think can probably be skipped.

Anonymous
02/25/26(Wed)03:46:55 No.16920041

Anonymous 02/25/26(Wed)03:46:55 No.16920041▶

>>16919165
>books generally are not
ngmi and that's a good thing no pseuds allowed

Anonymous
02/25/26(Wed)04:02:56 No.16920049

Anonymous 02/25/26(Wed)04:02:56 No.16920049▶

>>16919165
Go read the originals then instead of the solidified version of it that's presented as pure formalism. Like go read Hamilton or something. It's more entertaining.

Anonymous
02/25/26(Wed)05:44:26 No.16920075

Anonymous 02/25/26(Wed)05:44:26 No.16920075▶

>>16919165
>Conversations are entertaining and books generally are not
And you want to do physics? You realize there are few people in that field you will be able to meet and have 'conversations' with in your state right?

Anonymous
02/26/26(Thu)01:23:01 No.16920543

Anonymous 02/26/26(Thu)01:23:01 No.16920543▶

>>16919161
Gen Z can't read.

Anonymous
03/02/26(Mon)01:45:27 No.16922875

Anonymous 03/02/26(Mon)01:45:27 No.16922875▶

>>16919066
Funny pic

Anonymous
03/02/26(Mon)02:23:12 No.16922889

Anonymous 03/02/26(Mon)02:23:12 No.16922889▶

>>16919066
>I went into accounting after so didn’t think I needed any math beyond that.
10/10

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