Recent content by bombadillo

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    Jobs and salary for Mathematics and Physics addict students.

    You don't know what you're asking for so you can't be helped. Physics and math have to be approached on their own terms -- not with a view to a fat paycheck. If you're thinking about the fat paycheck at the end, you won't be able to focus on the math and physics. From what you've written, I...
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    Schools Can I Get Into Grad School with a 2.8 GPA?

    *Shrug* Grade inflation in general. The strength of the courses in a particular department (we'd expect MIT courses to be more rigorous and of a higher level than at Swampwater U). And even in the same department, the standard, rigor, and choice of topics of a course can vary depending on the...
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    Schools Can I Get Into Grad School with a 2.8 GPA?

    Firstly, because as someone pointed out, they can; that is to say, there's a body of applicants to choose from, even at lower-tier schools. Secondly, there's a high drop-out rate in both physics and math. There's probably a significant correlation between undergrad GPA and probability of...
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    Intro to Diff. Geom. PLEASE COMMENT.

    That is completely wrong. The dimension of a (non-singular) manifold is the same as the (algebraic) dimension of the tangent space. Construct a simple example: the surface of the sphere is two-dimensional (in the sense that it can be covered with overlapping coordinate patches. Now look at the...
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    Preparing for Differential Geometry Class: Basics to Know

    Published by Van Nostrand, I think. Really designed for a grad course.
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    Preparing for Differential Geometry Class: Basics to Know

    Millman and Parker's "Elements of Differential Geometry" was published in 1977 (I think) by Prentice Hall. I didn't know it's been republished. It's a decent introductory text. I think the authors use the first and second fundmanental forms. O'Neill's "Elementary Differential Geometry" is...
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    Programs Getting Your PhD in Physics: What to Expect & Options Beyond Teaching

    I suppose if you've taken core courses in mechanics (including the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations), classical electrodynamics, statistical thermodynamics, special (and maybe general) relativity, quantum physics, differential equations and the other mathematical methods courses, you...
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    Is anti-racist math a valid approach to teaching mathematics?

    What people like Lacan, Kristeva, and others write is complete drivel. If you want to generate your own postmodernist gobbledygook, go to: http://www.elsewhere.org/cgi-bin/postmodern/ It will have you in fits. Ah yes, "socially constructed." Another buzzword much in vogue with the...
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    Revisiting Andrew Wiles' Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem: A Critical Analysis

    People here should read the Manila Times article: it will have them in hysterics. For example: I know the Escultura type. They avoid -- and are avoided by -- real professionals. Their language of discourse is gobbledygook, reminiscent of much of "postmodernist" writing. They publish their...
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    Differential Forms: What You'll Learn in Differential Geometry

    Tangent vectors "push forward", whereas forms "pull back", in differentiable mappings from one manifold to another. The topological information comes from the de Rham cohomology ring. Weintraub, published by Academic Press. Traditional vector calculus finds a more general and elegant...
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    Is anti-racist math a valid approach to teaching mathematics?

    True. And as far as I know, the moslems didn't do much with developing the subject anyway. I think Omar Khayyam worked a bit with cubic equations, maybe one or two other moslem mathematicians did some small pieces of original work. Nothing like the colossal European legacy. We have to remember...
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    Differential Forms: What You'll Learn in Differential Geometry

    A classical course on differential geometry -- which includes many introductory courses -- may not cover and use differential forms at all.
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    Courses Which Math Course Should I Take Next Year for Theoretical Physics?

    The grad students are leading you astray. Key concepts in real analysis such as Cauchy sequences, convergence tests, uniform convergence, and the Lebesgue integral will recur in physical applications, e.g. when you're using Fourier series and integrals. As a physicist, you have to come to terms...
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    How to get into undergrad research

    "Research" that isn't cutting edge, i.e. something new, doesn't deserve the name. You may be confusing research with, say, doing a project on some topic, maybe reading some journal papers, then writing a synopsis and/or giving a survey talk. Though from you've told us so far, you're not at the...
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    How to get into undergrad research

    No. The fact that you are even asking this question betrays your lack of understanding of physics. You need to complete the upper-division courses in mechanics, electrodynamics, relativity, quantum theory, and statistical physics plus a big chunk of mathematics -- differential equations, complex...
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