A more "boring" but nevertheless extremely important area is the quantum chemistry of proteins, DNA, and other biochemically relevant molecules.
For instance, modelling protein physics is exceedingly difficult and presently in its infancy. Empirically fitted potentials and Hamiltonian dynamics...
I had an advisor at one point who had a bachelor's degree in religious studies (at Harvard) who wound up doing a PhD in physics without a physics background. He had gone to LA to pursue a career in film, realized that was a bad idea, and then just started taking physics classes at UCLA.
This...