Job opportunities with theoretical solid state/condensed matter

[mobiusdafrost]

i really enjoy my physics and applied math classes and wish to pursue a career that uses them, while also staying employable at the same tiem. i hate experiments so i don't want to be an experimentalist or engineer, unless the engineering is theoretical.

i know there's plenty of opportunities for those who do solid state and condensed matter physics, but is that only for experimentalists? what about for theorists in those areas? and for those theorists, do they have to do a lot of experiments/lab work?

also i don't want to become a professor, i want to work in industry/government/etc

 

[Dr Transport]

I was trained as a condensed matter theoretician. I now work in industry and spend about half of my time interacting with the labs and doing analysis on experimental data. The other half of my time is spent in the analysis and design of optical and infrared systems. I'll get back into materials work in a couple of years after I am done working this latest assignment in systems.

It all depends on the industry you want to work in, what your specialty is and what your employer wants.

 

[mobiusdafrost]

hmm... that's interesting

if i enjoy physics and applied math but hate experimetns, would going into theoretical solid state/condensed matter be a good idea if i intend to work in industry but not doing any lab work

 

[mobiusdafrost]

also is condensed matter something ill like if my favorite physics classes are quantum and stat mech, and my favorite math are linear algebra and PDEs