Study advice Definition and 24 Threads

TL;DR Summary: I am asking for how to study CMT Any advice in connecting concepts and building intuition for condensed matter? Sometimes I can do some problems operationally, but I can't see connection between different problems and doesn't have a mental model or intuition? I can think of read...

Ok. Very long post incoming. I'm kind of in a conundrum where my context is important. I am self-teaching theoretical physics slowly but surely. My end goal is to be able to mathematically comprehend various quantum gravity theories such as LQG and String Theory. My calculus roots go back to...

TL;DR Summary: The university pure maths courses feel rough and uninsightful, yet exclude (temporally) the possibility of studying good texts. What and how does one study in order to attain such understanding as to be profound, but allowing, by structure, still to follow the curriculum...

I find the topics of dual space, dual basis, dual map, and annihilator quite abstract. I understand the proofs in the book I am reading (Linear Algebra Done Right), and I can solve problems. But after a few weeks without doing any linear algebra I forget what these concepts are and the reason...

Im having a issue with studying physics. When I receive a HW problem I dive deep into the problem in a holistic way. I tend to start solving problems that are related to the HW problem but are not the HW problem itself. For instance, I received a pendulum problem and was asked to find its...

I'm a PhD student in high-energy theory and this is one point I have been struggling with for a while. When I study a paper what is the most efficient way to do so? For example, should I try to rederive everything following the author's reasoning? Should I try to take notes, and if so how to...

Hi everyone! Hope you all are doing well in these tough times. Currently my country is going through one of the toughest second waves of Covid and frankly seeing the news is terrifying to say the least. Being at home, I've noticed that I haven't been able to study for a significant period of...

Hello all, Now I had graduated from high school, and I'd like to self-study (revisiting) high school mathematics and physics (not for exam). But recently I often saw ads for a local online course platform. Many of the platform's users have been admitted to top colleges, and get better score...

Hi, I'm a 3rd year (Scottish so a 4 year undergrad degree) student doing Physics. Obviously many of you will have been through a Physics/Maths degree and this question is for you. I'm finding that the volume of content this year is so much that I spend all my time keeping up on course notes...

I am seeking advice on how to effectively and efficiently learn mathematics textbooks. Currently, I adopt the style of trying to prove theorems in the book before reading the provided proof. I have had good success in this; I noticed a considerable gap in experience between me and my peers in...

Homework Statement A person riding a bike travels at an average velocity of 3m/s for 30min. The person then takes a water break for 15 min. The person finally travels a distance of 450m at an average velocity of 1.5m/s. What is the persons average velocity? 2. Homework Equations [/B] Average...

I am preparing for an exam which requires me to solve problems in electrodynamics and electrostatics problems along with classical mechanics and geometrical optics problems. The concern is that I do not have electrodynamics in my course in school so I have to study it completely on my own. I...

Hello. I am a new member of this forum. My name's Patrick and I'm 1st year Wrocław University of Science and Technology student. I decided to study, as in title, quantuum engineering, because I think, saying succinctly, everything in the future will be based on quantuum technology - AIs, nanobot...

Hello, I am at my second year of my physics bachelor degree, and even now I still have to deal with difficulties about how to study well and bad grades. Every beginning of semester I make a plan of study, but it never works. And past two months I am already full of tests and homeworks and I...

Hi, I am really very interested in learning physics and becoming researcher or scientist. But I have few problems like I am not good at maths at all I can remember formulas and constants value. I am not at all interested in electricity and magnetism. I don't really know what am I good at. I...

Hi everyone, i was wondering if i can study totally on tablets and computers with minimal or no use of paper texts, Without significant health damage...

Hi, I'm a student in the UK and am going on to study Physics at university next year. I enjoy self-study and was wondering which approach would be best, whether to read the physics content first or learn mathematical techniques first ( real and complex analysis etc.) Moreover, I wasn't sure...

Hello, my name is Alejandro. And I posted here a long time ago asking for some help in preparing for MEXT scholarship exams, and you guys helped me so much and I am really thankful. I am happy to inform that I have been the only one who cleared those exams out of the 40 or so applicants in my...

I've recently failed my first physics exam at a German university and would like to ask for some advice here. I understood 90% of the course content and was able to solve most of the problems, but in the exam, I was often confused and obviously too slow. I ran out of time just as I started doing...

Hi everyone, So I'm currently in the middle of my summer holiday (waiting for A Level results) and I'm getting pretty bored of not knowing what to do. (I have contacted some charities for volunteer work but still waiting to hear, anyway that's beside the point) At A Level I studied Maths (Core...

Has anyone been through independent study calculus course ( DE through a university out of Utah)? I really miss the aspect of having an instructor but I do enjoy being able to focus on the aspects that I am not great at while passing over things that I've already learned. I would really like to...

I'm going into a career that is heavily based in physics and I'd like to be able to read the original source material for the physics involved. However, calculus was many, many years ago for me. So, to understand and learn radiation physics, and eventually quantum mechanics, my understanding...

[This is a slightly long post, but I'm trying to provide as much information up front as possible so I don't waste anyone's time] I went through all of high school acing most of my classes with minimal effort. I even skirted by first semester, freshman year of college with a 3.5 GPA. The...

I recently came across an opportunity to work in a workstudy program at a cancer research center in seattle. The problem is at my current college I am am not eligible for work study according to the COA - EFC = Financial Need formula. I really would like to take advantage of this opportunity...