What Is the Best Sequence to Study Physics Topics as a Math Grad Student?

[Robert1986]

OK, so this is kind of related to a thread I started in the Books section. I am currently (well, I will be in a few weeks) a math grad student. We have to take grad-level courses from a school outside of math. I want to do Physics because I remember thinking it was interesting when I took the classes, but I haven't really done much Physics since then. So, the Physics classes I have taken are just the regular freshman calc-based physics stuff and one class in computational physics (a class I got nothing out of because I didn't really understand what was being computed, so in answering this, you may assume I have only taken the first two physics classed.)


Now, my goal before I get done is to have a fairly decent grasp of Classical Mechanics, Thermodynamics and E&M. Now, I don't really know how possible this is, as I don't really know what encompasses these subjects. However, is there a certain order I should go in when studying these? Would it make sense to the Classical Mechanics before E&M? Or would it be possible to do two at a time?

Feel free to ask me any questions if you need to.

 

[R.Mesri]

Thanks in advance! It would make sense to start out with Classical Mechanics, as this is the foundation for many of the other concepts in Physics. After that, you could move onto Thermodynamics, then Electromagnetism (E&M), and then onto more advanced topics like Quantum Mechanics or Relativity. If you want to do two at a time, it would be best to start with Classical Mechanics and Thermodynamics as they both have a lot of overlap and complement each other. Then, you could move on to E&M and whichever other advanced topic you would like to study.