How to Find/Read Academic Papers for Physics Undergraduate

[Ashuron]

Hi all

I am new to this forum and want to know if anyone has any advice on reading Academic Papers.

I am in a Physics Undergraduate Program 2nd year (sophomore level?)
I just finished Introductory Electromagnetism (Fundamentals of Physics level), Multivariable Calculus, and Linear Algebra courses.

I want to read more publications on Physics. Those in Journals seems inaccessible(I am lacking the knowledges). So now, I am interested to read some of more classical papers.

Can anyone give a link or list of those Physics publications that are well-known or must read?
Also, can anyone give tips for people around my level to get the most from those publications?


PS: English is not my native language

[viscousflow]

Can anyone give a link or list of those Physics publications that are well-known or must read?
Also, can anyone give tips for people around my level to get the most from those publications?


-Your university's library should be affiliated with publication databases. You can also check http://arxiv.org/

-Also I don't even know where to begin giving advice on reading these. You usually search for a paper on a topic you want/need to know more about and go from there. You should probably wait until your degree is almost complete, when you're more academically mature enough to handle published papers. I'm an engineer and I did E&M for physicists ages ago and there aren't many papers I could begin reading.

[Ashuron]

Thank you viscousflow,

Yes, my library allowed me to have access to some publication databases.
For arxiv, are those publications can be uplaoded by anyone?
I am not that familiar with how arxiv works.

[Meir Achuz]

I would recommend
1. Physics Today. This is a journal for academic physicists, but it has some interesting articles that you could get somethng out of.
2. American Journal of Physics. The audience for this includes advanced students. You can pick and choose articles. Some should be understandable for you.
3. European Journal of Physics, the European version. This is on a slightly higher level than AJP, but you can find some articles you can follow.
A warning, though: Your primary concern is the reading in your physics courses. Looking at these journals should replace only football on television, not your present studies.
I think these journals are better than the arXiv at yor level.

[Ashuron]

Thanks Meir Achuz,

I have tried to read 2 articles from Physics Today.
I agreed that they may be more suitable for my spare time.