Too bad if this is too late.
I would recommend Northwestern over KSU. You are right that the department is rather small, but the size of physics major is very small, too. Virtually everyone who wants to do research can do research. If you are a major in physics and talk to any prof, they will...
I think it began because I "could". It's like one day you realize you have a better eye sight than most everyone else and you can see that girl next door changing her clothes more clearly than your friends do. Of course you'd feel special and want to keep doing it (note that doing physics is...
I think a proper introduction to particle physics (at the level of griffiths) would be harder than most other because it assumes pretty thorough understanding of most other subjects (mechanics, E&M, quantum). For example griffiths goes over E&M in like 3 pages.
HRW is pretty standard. If you are looking for a reference that's similar to HRW in style, I think Tipler is pretty good. I hear "University Physics" (dunno the author) is a good book as well. If you want somewhat of an unconventional textbook, you can always use Feynman lectures:)
Sounds to me like an introductory course on some of the topics that should be more or less "common sense" to physics majors by the time they are junior/seniors :smile:
well yes, tim_liu did mention Einstein and Nobel Prize, and that might tick some people off, but I don't think it's "bad" for a kid playing basketball in a neighborhood park to dream of becoming Micheal Jordan someday...
Obviously, many of us were inspired by dreams like that when we didn't...
I don't know if you want this kind of advice, but I just wanted to say that you probably want to apply to many (I'd say at least 10, since you are a freshman) REU programs. There are just so few spots for REU that people who are intellectually very well qualified could be turned down for...
http://superstringtheory.com/math/math1.html
The guides to math I, II, III are nice listings of math topics needed for string theorists. I think string theory is the most mathematically advanced subfield of physics as of now.
For the physics GRE, you really need to study the 4 published ETS exams at a bare minimum. I took all 4 of them in a realistic setting over 4 weeks. Each time after the practice, I made sure I understood every single problem (well, almost) on the test. After 2 exams or so, you really get used...
If you plan on starting college in the fall of 2007, it means Feb 1st of 2007. If you will be submitting applications in the fall of 2007, and starting college in the fall of 2008, it means Feb 1st of 2008.
If you have a convenient way of excessing internet (I assume you do), then you will...
Off the top of my head, I know Princeton has a number of theoretical biological physicists. These people were trained as theoretical physicists in the traditional sense. They are both in the physics department and the molecular bio department. Harvard systems biology department (naturally)...
I tried googling "lab bench"
The first picture seems like a good enough representation of a biology lab bench :)
http://www.swmed.edu/stars/02antarcticexpedition/update%20images/Lab%20Bench.jpg
Notice there is a office desk near the window. I think this kind of arrangement is rare in...
so far I have worked in two university research labs..
1. Experiemental condensed matter physics lab
There's an office where ppl have their desks, books, computers, papers and printers around. This place was pretty much what you'd expect to see in any kind of "office", just like in companies...
Yup, it's annoying. But the weird thing is, standard texts such as marionþton, griffiths, or even some of the easier chapters of ashcroft&mermin don't use anything that I learned in complex analysis. And yet my physics dept recommends complex analysis for students intending to go to grad...