High Energy Physics: Q&A on Computational Skills & Math Courses

[zahero_2007]

I have some questions regarding High Energy Physics
Are Computational Physics and Programming Skills of use for The High Energy Physicist or is it sufficient to only know how to use MATLAB ? Also should I take courses in Algebraic topology and Algebraic geometry ? Also What other math courses should a graduate take to specialize in HEP ?
It seems that most research is in string theory and SUSY . How much is it difficult to develop new ideas in these fields ? Thanks

 

[physiker_192]

Are Computational Physics and Programming Skills of use for The High Energy Physicist or is it sufficient to only know how to use MATLAB ?

They're useful as typically you have tremendous amounts of data to analyze from experiments.
For example, ROOT framework has been developed by CERN for the analysis of experimental data, currently based on C++:

http://root.cern.ch/drupal/

 

[zahero_2007]

Thanks , but are these of use in developing Theories ? I mean If you do not work in the phenomenology

 

[physiker_192]

Thanks , but are these of use in developing Theories ? I mean If you do not work in the phenomenology

Ooops,,, looks like you meant theoretical computations. In this case then ROOT is not of much use.

 

[zahero_2007]

I have one more question . How many Physics graduates work in Theoretical high energy physics and how much is it difficult ?

 

[ParticleGrl]

In terms of programming, theoretical high energy is far behind the curve. Much of the popular code is written in fortran 77. I would say that a knowledge of mathematica and fortran could get you far. Having some numerical methods background is useful, but you can learn what you need as you go.

As far as employment, that's a bit tougher. The only jobs actually doing hep theory are academic, and getting an academic job requires a tremendous amount of sacrifice, hard work, skill, and luck. You'll need to get a phd, which will take 5 or 6 years after undergraduate. After that, you'll have to go through two postdoctoral periods of 3 years, and finally you get to apply for faculty positions, and hope that you're lucky enough to get one.

 

[zahero_2007]

Can someone reply to my other questions please?

 

[lasm2000]

The more maths you know, the better. But rather than going for a one year in AT and AG I would rather study from a more focused source like the book from Nakahara.

Overall, the level of maths you must know is around the same of Mathematics for Physics: A Guided Tour for Graduate Students by Michael Stone and Paul Goldbar. Of course, depending on your area of specialization you will require more advanced tools, but you will have your whole phd time to acquire them.

 

[zahero_2007]

Thanks , What is the average salary of a theoretical particle physicist employed in a university ?

 

[zif.]

Thanks , What is the average salary of a theoretical particle physicist employed in a university ?

You've asked about the difficulty, and are now asking about salary.

I highly recommend you choose a different career path.

Go into engineering if you want to make money.

 

[twofish-quant]

Are Computational Physics and Programming Skills of use for The High Energy Physicist or is it sufficient to only know how to use MATLAB ?

Depends on the type of HEP. Lattice gauge theory and large scale calculation of Feymann diagrams require quite a bit of computational work.

see http://cfif.ist.utl.pt/~paulo/qgraf.html