Is Returning to Physics After Years in Finance a Good Idea?

[ateixeira]

Hello everybody!
I signed up to this blog a long time ago but I don't think I ever made a post in here before.

I finished my degree in Physics more than 5 years ago, started my PhD but never finished it. After that I moved back to Angola and followed a careers in consulting and on the financial sector. During this detour, Physics never left my mind, and now in 2024 (with 41 years) it is time to get back to it!

In September/October I will restart my PhD, but in a new area, so maybe restart is not the correct term and in the mean time I need to be brought up to speed with the most relevant themes on my future research topics.

I've decided to start a blog on it (it's the second iteration of my blog) to tell my journey during this 6 months.

I think that even after this initial time I will keep the blog as type of research diary.

[Post edited by the Mentors]

 

[Frabjous]

Congrats.

That is a lot of books to cover in 6 months. You appear to have both an upperclassman and a graduate book for most of the topics. I‘d suggest figuring out what level you are at in each area and concentrate on the relevant text.

 

[ateixeira]

Congrats.

That is a lot of books to cover in 6 months. You appear to have both an upperclassman and a graduate book for most of the topics. I‘d suggest figuring out what level you are at in each area and concentrate on the relevant text.

Thank you.

Yes the upperclassman and graduate choices are intentional. I was a good student and had a good understanding of physics back in the days. Still almost two decades have passed and a lot has been forgotten and is out shape. So I will use the upperclassman books to remember the theoretical concepts and solve exercises. After reading the relevant sections I will pass to the graduate version. For example on Griffiths' QM I will read chapters 1,2,3,4 and 7. After that I think I will be again at an appropriate level to read the Sakurai book (which covers some of the themes that I won't be reading in Griffiths at a more deeper lever). Even on Sakurai I won't read all chapters (I will only read chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7)

I am doing it like this in order to optimize the use of time and because the selection of books allows me to pick up the basis of some themes on upperclassman books where I will read about more deeply on the graduate books.

But of course if things get harder than I expect than I will update the plan.