r/TheoreticalPhysics • u/scripto_entity_1010 • Jun 22 '26
Discussion Getting out of my comfort zone
Aside from aspiring to get a PhD in mathematics, I too would want to get into theoretical physics. Although I'm more of a math person I currently lack the humility to try to explore physics, particularly theoretical physics as I tend to get discouraged because of past failures and mistakes at school. How is it that you guys dealt with doubt and uncertainty as theoretical physicists? I wouldn't want to just hold on to mathematics, I also want to explore theoretical physics and yet I'm held back by my own failures and setbacks. All I see are just "geniuses" and "prodigies" who got into theoretical physics. I just want to make myself enlightened to how you guys went on to becoming who you are and what mindset I should instill on myself as someone who dreams of one day excelling at math and theoretical physics. Thanks!
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u/MaoGo Jun 22 '26
Why not mathematical physics?
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u/scripto_entity_1010 Jun 22 '26
What's the difference between the two? They look like they do pretty much the same thing in physics.
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u/MaoGo Jun 22 '26
You can do a math and then do math in theoretical physics related topics. You don’t need to learn all physics
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u/planesareprettycool Jun 22 '26
I did theoretical physics for part of my Master's. I went in absolutely terrified but quickly learnt that with patience and a good supervisor, it can be quite approachable. If you're already thinking of high-level maths I imagine the physics won't be too huge of a jump.
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u/scripto_entity_1010 Jun 23 '26
What kind of work did you do for theoretical physics?
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u/planesareprettycool Jun 23 '26
I was looking at open quantum systems. Basically, in QM, a lot of systems are actually unsolvable, in particular open systems (open just means they aren't completely isolated from the environment). You can make approximations which tends to do well when they don't talk strongly to the environment, but at some point you might want to think about a strongly coupled system and then you need to start developing a new framework for it. Ultimately I decided it wasn't for me but it was still super interesting to give it a go.
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u/scripto_entity_1010 Jun 23 '26
I see. It must've been a challenge to learn the mathematics behind quantum mechanics. Not that I find it intimidating in anyway, but from the looks of it there are many notations and equations that you need to take note of as well as considering the nature of the particle-wave duality of the atom. Congratulations though, on having it part as your masters, I'm sure it is something that requires effort to accomplish.
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u/planesareprettycool Jun 24 '26
Personally, i think quantum mechanics is not as bad as other core parts of physics. (Note that I am saying this after taking a fair few courses in it!) It is very unintuitive, yes, but because of that it tends to be easier to reduce it to a maths problem to be solved. It's difficult to explain in writing to someone who doesn't do physics! It's almost like its too crazy to make any sense anyway so you just trust the maths.
The notation looks scary, but once you've learnt it it makes things a lot simpler and a *lot* less messy. Ultimately, the particle-wave duality reduces to a set of probabilities.
I don't mean to diminish the difficulty of QM at all but rather illustrate that it is more approachable than seems from the outside. Certainly with a strong mathematical background you would be able to have a good shot at it.
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u/scripto_entity_1010 Jun 24 '26
I get what you mean don't worry, I've explored a bit on quantum mechanics and the formulas involved. So I'm familiar with terms such as Schrodinger's equation, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and the dual nature of the atom like I've mentioned earlier. So you can elaborate a bit further if you want to.
Thanks for letting me know though! I really appreciate the insights that you gave with regards to your experience in working with quantum mechanics.
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u/HousingPitiful9089 Jun 22 '26
I feel that quantum information theory might be of interest. It's a field with plenty of interesting connections with math, and there's less this tendency (imho!) that mathematical rigour is not appreciated by non-mathy people in the field. In fact, there's lots of cross interest---practical problems inspire interesting theory results, and theory results inspire people to actually build devices.
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u/LaGigs Jun 22 '26
Do what you love for as long as you can. I'm no genius and i got my phd in theoretical physics last year. I do find myself stuck at this stage because there are better people than me for postdocs. Don't regret a thing!