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Expert: Daniel Mazur - 6/21/2010


Question
Hello Daniel, I am a aspiring physicists.  What i want to know is what are the different branches of theoretical physics?  And is it true, that if i major in theoretical physics, i have to major in one of the branches?  With that being said, which branch incorporates the most math, theory, ect.

thank you for your attention to this matter,
garrett

Answer
Dear Garrett,
you question would best be answered by a theoretical physicist. To my knowledge theoretical physics is one until you choose a diploma topic. Then you focus your studies in that topic and more or less neglect other "branches". You cannot write a thesis without specializing a bit in somethiong, so the answer is "yes, it's true".
I dare say that there are as many branches to theoretical physics as to experimental physics. The most analytic maths and pure theory comes in astrophysics and cosmology, but that does not discount other fields. Particle and high-energy physics, solid state physics, geophysics (climatology, meteorology, ...) contain a lot of it as well, but more of your time will be occupied by modelling real-life like models than something just derived from a set of axioms. This is natural, because much more experimental data are available in these fields than in cosmology.
Take care,
Daniel

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Questions anyone (teenager, undergrad, graduate, professional) may ask on physics, mathematics or inorganic chemistry. Questions may concern subjects themselves or a possible future career in them, if you need advice on a school or hobby project, or you just came across a question that is beyond your current curriculum. I answer bare textbook problems sometimes, but I reserve the the right to redirect you to Physics-Physics section. The kind of questions I like to answer: I just started having science classes at school and they seem difficult, but I enjoy them. Where do I find more information on this, which is not in textbooks but still comprehensible to me? Just leaving high school, and I feel science is really the thing for me. Can you recommend a school and an undergrad program suitable to my inclinations? I am in my second undergraduate year in Physics. We learned the basics of universe expanding this year, the Hubble constant and all that, but invited speakers that gave talks on astrophysics in our department seemed not to agree with this model at all. Is it of any use at all? I am building a [materials research] experimental device for my masters/doctorate thesis and I have the following problem:... I have tried ..., but it still doesn't work. Where might the problem be?

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