Recent content by Monocles

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    Are Commutative Algebra and Algebraic Geometry useful for physics?

    Sure, but it depends on what you are trying to do. For example, algebraic geometry is completely unavoidable in string theory. Calabi-Yau manifolds are a certain special type of complex variety. Mirror symmetry is of great interest to both string theorists and algebraic geometers. Even stacks...
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    Schools GPA during Grad School: Does It Matter?

    Once you have your PhD, nobody will ever ask about your grades. So they have no long term significance. I think you should focus on learning the material, and shrug it off if you end up with a grade that you do not think reflects your knowledge. What you know is the only thing that really...
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    Applied Math undergrad to pure math grad school?

    The name of the degree doesn't really matter, just the courses, and Georgia Tech has plenty of courses in pure mathematics. You can essentially complete a pure math degree there, you just have to take a few extra applied courses on the side.
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    Bachelor In Mathematics and PhD In Physics

    There's a lot more to mathematical physics besides analysis. I'm in grad school for mathematical physics (in a math department), but I spend about an equal amount of time thinking about algebraic and analytic things (which feels to be the norm for algebraic geometry used in physics). So really...
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    Chamseddine/Connes new paper on noncommutative geometry standard model

    An update on this from Estrada and Marcolli Asymptotic safety, hypergeometric functions, and the Higgs mass in spectral action models I am surprised that I did not notice this paper sooner. This claims to achieve a realistic Higgs mass estimate using renormalization group equations instead of...
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    Programs Double major in Math/Physics - possible? Interesting?

    I graduated with a double major in math and physics, and I probably know at least a dozen other people who did as well. It is a good choice if, like me, you just cannot decide between the two and didn't know what you wanted to go to graduate school for until your senior year of college. But most...
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    Chamseddine/Connes new paper on noncommutative geometry standard model

    What do you make of this recent paper of Chamseddine and Connes? Resilience of the Spectral Standard Model The version of the Standard Model based on a product of the spacetime manifold with a finite noncommutative space had previously predicted a Higgs mass of 170 GeV. Supposedly this paper...
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    Schools Graduate school profile for Caltech

    I did SURF at Caltech in 2011 - my advice (gathered from completely anecdotal evidence from other non-Caltech students) is that the best way to get into the SURF program is to know a professor who knows the professor at Caltech that you want to work for. Many of the professors get a lot of cold...
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    B.S. Applied Math to Pure Math Grad?

    I did my BS in Applied Math at GT, and I'm about to start a pure math PhD. You're fine. They offer all of the standard pure math classes that any school has. You just have to take some extra computer science and CS-related math classes.
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    What's Your Technique for Eating Corn on the Cob?

    I eat corn in both manners - sometimes both ways on the same cob. I'm also pretty much on the fence between analysis and algebra. I like both topics a lot!
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    Schools How much did you know when you entered Grad School?

    I'm entering a math PhD program this fall after finishing my undergrad last fall (I'm in the US). In terms of preparation, I double majored in math and physics in undergrad and so I have all of the standard coursework for those degrees. I did graduate courses in quantum mechanics, functional...
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    Yurt Living, vacation or long term

    Some state parks have yurts that you can stay in - it tends to be really cheap in comparison to renting a cabin. I've spent a few days in a yurt with friends a handful of times and we end up paying about $20 each.
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    What would be the pre-requisites to learn Topological Quantum Field Theory?

    In fact, I'd say that topological quantum field theory (at least at the basic mathematical level) is probably more accessible than 'ordinary' quantum field theory. There is a text called Frobenius Algebras and Two-Dimensional Topological Quantum Field Theories that develops the theory of 2D...
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    Programs Class sizes at math phd programs?

    This whole page is actually a little misleading - included in the average are the numbers from before their math and statistics department split up.
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    Programs Class sizes at math phd programs?

    Some schools have information on this if you dig around for long enough. You can estimate it, though, by taking the number of current grad students and dividing by the average number of years to graduate (which is also frequently on the website, but you can just guess 4.5 and probably won't be...
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