Career question

[Riba]

Hi there folks, I'm supposed to start uni soon, new chapter of life. I don't wanna take much of your time so long story short I'm interested in a research career as a theoretical physicist and until recently was interested in studying astronomy (getting bachelor's degree in it). Now I am rethinking that and I'm starting to believe that I won't learn as much mathematics as I would truly love to during astronomy degree, so I started thinking about doing a bachelor's in mathematics. I am interested if one can do bachelor's in mathematics and then proceed to do master in physics or something like that? The other choice is also physics but I'm not sure about that either... Any advice about this is welcome! 

[studiot]

12 minutes ago, Riba said:

Hi there folks, I'm supposed to start uni soon, new chapter of life. I don't wanna take much of your time so long story short I'm interested in a research career as a theoretical physicist and until recently was interested in studying astronomy (getting bachelor's degree in it). Now I am rethinking that and I'm starting to believe that I won't learn as much mathematics as I would truly love to during astronomy degree, so I started thinking about doing a bachelor's in mathematics. I am interested if one can do bachelor's in mathematics and then proceed to do master in physics or something like that? The other choice is also physics but I'm not sure about that either... Any advice about this is welcome! 

Yes a Batchelors in Mathematics will certainly give you better grounding than one in Astronomy, so long as you are careful with your choice of syllabus.

This should include a modern foundations of maths course, followed by lots of applied maths.

But even then you would have a long way to add to that to get up to advanced theoretical Physics level.

 

Good luck and I hope others will add useful comments.

[Genady]

As nobody can predict the future, IMHO the way to go is to pick subjects that you like and are good in. In any case, you will have to learn a lot of other things after getting the degree.

[Mordred]

A strong foundation in mathematics is essential for theoretical physics. QFT for example uses integrals and canonical operators. So you want a good understanding of variations calculus. Conformal methods such a relativity, string theory etc make good use of differential geometry and partial derivatives.

 Anything involving probability makes good use of statistical mechanics.

So a strong math background is essential in any physics theory.

A solid good textbook to give you a general idea is Mathematical methods for Physicists  by Arfgen

https://shop.elsevier.com/books/mathematical-methods-for-physicists/arfken/978-0-12-384654-9?country=CA&format=print&utm_source=google_ads&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=capmax&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4NujBhC5ARIsAF4Iv6fpYklEnPTD1vVayu0_DYREjaF-Bl7abZopsJTJdLBdnklws7g5NTIaAhTqEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Edited May 31, 2023 by Mordred

[studiot]

1 hour ago, Mordred said:

A solid good textbook to give you a general idea is Mathematical methods for Physicists  by Arfgen

I wasn't going to recommend any books without further discussion at this stage, but I will second Arfgen as a good choice. +1

[Genady]

It also might help to be familiar with this theoretical physicist's advice: How to become a GOOD Theoretical Physicist (goodtheorist.science)

[CharonY]

While I cannot really comment on the physicist part, I would like to add that one should have realistic expectations regarding potential research positions, especially if one is interested in a particular field. There are not a lot of permanent research focused positions out there (and those that are are disproportionately competitive). So it is good to keep that in mind and look for career paths early on.

[JohnathanSpike]

Hey, yeah, mathematic is a great start. But, did you ever think about going into IT, even temporarily? You can choose a position as data scientist, Computer Vision or NLP. Linear algebra there is a must-have. After some time in junior position, you can go into middle, and enroll in some talent management services.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Phi for All
removed advertising link

[Genady]

38 minutes ago, abdullahrana3089 said:

Help us understand what information you feel is lacking here.  You seem to have established that life began in seawater, so where would you expect to find seawater?  Are you trying to narrow it down from "the sea"?  Are there cellular contents that would point towards a particular 

They have already posted it here: 

 

 

which was plagiarized from here: 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheVat]

Wondered why I was getting a notification on this thread.  So there's a trend now in bots, with echoing old posts.   Weird.

[oliviajackson]

Hello @Riba

Before taking any decision, first, you understand yourself. On which field you are interested, which one work inspires you to do more work, and you are always ready for that work. then you will take decision After take decision you will be more satification.

[Aditi70]

You need to do self thinking and understand your passion and interests and what you love in order to make decision of your career

Edited September 14 by Aditi70

[LuckyR]

On 5/31/2023 at 6:39 AM, Riba said:

Hi there folks, I'm supposed to start uni soon, new chapter of life. I don't wanna take much of your time so long story short I'm interested in a research career as a theoretical physicist and until recently was interested in studying astronomy (getting bachelor's degree in it). Now I am rethinking that and I'm starting to believe that I won't learn as much mathematics as I would truly love to during astronomy degree, so I started thinking about doing a bachelor's in mathematics. I am interested if one can do bachelor's in mathematics and then proceed to do master in physics or something like that? The other choice is also physics but I'm not sure about that either... Any advice about this is welcome! 

In my experience not many have the personality to thrive in academia. But if you do, great. Try to attend the most prestigious university in your chosen field because I agree with the previous advice that paid positions are very few and thus any advantage in your application will be important.

 

Good luck.