Recent content by elivil

Just want to ask for recommendations for good math books on 1) groups, modules, rings - all the basic algebra stuff but for a physicist 2) topological spaces, compactness, ... I need books for a theoretical physicist to read up on these topics so that I could study, say, algebraic...

So if one arranges to sit the qualifying exam at the beginning and passes it, then one could proceed to PhD after that without retaking classes? Or it will require some additional argument?

Can one apply to the US grad school and skip masters level courses to start working on PhD in the first year? Because in Europe, masters degree is usually obtained instantly after undergrad, whereas PhD level studies are separated. One really wouldn't want after obtaining masters and getting...

But it's not only newspaper headlines. There is a narrative advanced by many intelligent people,politicians from both parties, National Academies... They all say that we need to improve science education, encourage more students to do STEM degrees to remain "competitive". But is it really true...

I''ve just had enough of all this panic about China/India/BRICs/Asia outcompeting "the declining West". I mean, you would think by this time all the corporations would have moved to China and taken all the jobs with them. China graduates hundreds of thousands new engineers every year who are...

@tom.stoer I've been following this thread on an on-and-off basis for some time but it's really hard to navigate in the space of >400 posts. In your post #333 you suggested writing a short summary of identified problems and questions. I think it would be indeed great to have such a summary...

twofish-quant, I've been reading your posts for some time, and you seem to genuinely believe that people with PhDs can find jobs outside academia and you want more people to do their PhDs. Have you ever encountered the problem of overqualification? Some employers simply will not hire PhDs as...

I am a second-year undergrad at the university in the UK. I'm doing Physics and Maths and looking for summer opportunities for research. I got a first for my fresher year but I really have difficulty finding placements because most of US REUs are limited to US nationals. I don't want to do some...

Homework Statement It is often said that Maxwell's equations in differential form hold in special relativity while Maxwell's equations in integral form don't hold. Consider one of equations: \nabla \times \mathbf{E} = -\frac{\partial \mathbf{B}} {\partial t} \oint_{\partial S} \mathbf{E}...

Maybe, I've got wrong idea but I think I should reconsider energy conservation equation. It seems to me that in the moment of first stop of the piston during its oscillations we should consider not only its potential energy but also its kinetic energy which has maximum at this point. Am I...

Yes, I think the piston will gain speed, then pass the equilibrium point but because it has a non-zero kinetic energy, it will continue to move after that point - so in fact it will be a nonlinear oscillation. The moment of first stop will be the moment when the piston turns around to move back...

What mechanical equilibrium do you refer to? If you suggest something like p_1S=mg, I don't think it's right because in the moment of first stop we don't have mechanical equilibrium. If it was the case then the first stop would be the final stop because nothing would force the piston to move...

Thermodynamics adiabat - help Homework Statement Vertical cylindrical bottle is closed by a fixed piston (mass m). Under the piston in volume V_1 there is 1 mole of ideal 1-atomic gas with pressure P_1. Over the piston there is vacuum, cross section area is equal to S. The piston becomes free...

In fact, I think, their point is regarding quantum vortices in superfluids as topological defects of the same origin as such cosmic topological defects as cosmic strings or domain walls.