Recent content by fliptomato

On SLAC's Reorganization Of interest regarding SLAC's (somewhat subtle, perhaps) reorganization: http://home.slac.stanford.edu/pressreleases/2005/20050525.htm In a very rough nutshell, SLAC was fading from the traditional `high energy' frontier. While it still has (and continues to have)...

Or perhaps a more basic question. For a matrix lie group, the elements of the lie algebra are also matrices. Like any manifold, the tangent space is spanned by the basis vectors \frac{\partial}{\partial x^{ij}}|_{e}. What matrices do each of these basis vectors correspond to? For a general...

Comment: My question is more of a conceptual 'why do we do this' rather than a technical 'how do we do this.' Homework Statement Given a lie group G parameterized by x_1, ... x_n, give a basis of left-invariant vector fields. Homework Equations We have a basis for the vector fields...

Have you considered Cambridge University? Look up their pure math and applied math departments.

Hello, I also have only very limited experience. I'm currently spending two years studying physics in the UK doing masters degrees in Cambridge and Durham focusing in Particle Physics. However, my plans are to return to the US to do my PhD. What is worth considering is where you intend to spend...

Hi Luke--are you looking for grad schools or undergraduate schools? If you're looking for graduate schools you should look at professors rather than curriculua. If you're looking for undergraduate schools, you will also be well served looking at undergraduate research opportunities, overall...

My experience with applying to Cambridge for Part III: you get a conditional offer of admission from the department that's contingent on satisfactory progress on your last year and admission into a college (in the sense that the university is made up of academic departments an residential colleges).

Hi Unit_Circle, it sounds like the program you're in has it's heart in the right place but doesn't quite meet your needs. If it's relatively easy and administratively painless, I would place my vote for dropping the program and focusing on physics. Maybe there is some middle ground that you and...

Hi mcah5, I've posted my thoughts on the physics GRE here: http://fliptomato.wordpress.com/2006/09/13/the-physics-gre-a-guide-for-undergrads/" Hope that helps! The quick answers: If you can afford to take the exam in April (as well as in October if need be), I strongly recommend it...

Hi Nathan, Unfortunately there's no magic formula that will tell you that you have a 100% guaranteed chance at admission at a given school. You seem to be doing well in school and have a unique background that admissions deans will look at uniquely. If you poke around the web or talk to...

Hi Son of Ole, I'm not sure if this is really a fair question. For any physics department, the grad admissions committee is just one of many departmental committees that faculty take turns sitting on. Each admissions committee, I imagine, looks at all of the data provided to it, but depending...

Hi Electrifice. California is, indeed, a great place to go to school for physics. (Perhaps even better than Massachusetts.) With regard to this last question, I refer you to a reply I made to a similar question earlier this summer...

Hehe, maybe I'm being a little biased. I don't have a copy of MTW handy, so part of all of the following may be rubbish. For one the notation is a bit old (don't they use "div" "grad" and "curl" instead of the nabla operators?). If I recall correctly, they also use excessively script-y letters...

Okay. Some partial differential equations would help if you're going to attack Jackson. You probably learned the meat of what you need to know from your undergraduate (presumably Griffiths-level) E&M course, so you may or may not need to dig too deeply into the formalism. The first thing that...

Depending on your background, you might also like: Cahn, Semi-Simple Lie Algebras and their Representations. It's available free online. http://www-physics.lbl.gov/~rncahn/book.html" Also Howard Georgi's book of a similar title. These are oriented towards particle physicists.