Quantum Optics, Feeling Overwhelmed and Underprepared

[stephen8686]

I am an undergraduate at a fairly well known research university. I have taken undergraduate QM 1, QM 2, and the graduate course on Quantum Optics. I got As in all of them and found them not very difficult.
Now I am in a research group researching superradiance. I do not feel like any of my quantum courses came close to preparing me for this research. None of my courses discussed the quantization of the field, the Jaynes-Cummings model, Wigner Weisskopf, or the Master/Lindblad equation. So I'm trying to self study this stuff, but there is so much and it is such a huge jump from the Griffith's level stuff covered in my courses.
Would I be justified in complaining to the department that their curriculum isn't satisfactory?
Do you have any advice for me in self-studying these topics?

 

[Dr Transport]

you're working in a research group with only an undergraduate preparation, not a full years coursework in graduate level quantum. I don't think you have a case to complain that the curriculum is unsatisfactory.

 

[CrysPhys]

I agree with Dr Transport. Your research advisor should be carving out a project suitable for an undergrad with your background. You should not expect to perform at the level of a PhD candidate.

 

[Twigg]

@stephen8686 Don't panic. It's ok. Grad school is a marathon not a sprint. You're not expected to come in knowing everything, you're expected to learn.

Don't bother complaining to the department. Those courses aren't meant to prepare you for working on atoms in cavities. They're meant to give you a foundation. You might see this topic covered in a seminar you take in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th year of your PhD. It's too specialized. The only way you learn about these things is through self study, which is just part of a researcher's work.

Don't let the impostor syndrome freak you out. I know it's not easy for everyone, but try to practice managing your anxiety over what you don't know. If you can't, grad school will rip you a new one, in terms of mental health. It sucks, but that's the way it goes :/

You sound like you've actually gotten the right preparation, and you sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders. Just stay calm and study. We're rootin' for ya!

Edit: Just wanted to add, two years from now, you'll amaze yourself with how savvy you've gotten. It just kinda happens if you stick with it. Best advice I can give you is to keep an eye on your mental health, or better yet, pay a professional to keep an eye on it for you (i.e., therapy). Grad school can wear you down, and no one sees it coming.

 

[CrysPhys]

@stephen8686 Don't panic. It's ok. Grad school is a marathon not a sprint. You're not expected to come in knowing everything, you're expected to learn.

Don't bother complaining to the department. Those courses aren't meant to prepare you for working on atoms in cavities. They're meant to give you a foundation. You might see this topic covered in a seminar you take in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th year of your PhD. It's too specialized. The only way you learn about these things is through self study, which is just part of a researcher's work.

Don't let the impostor syndrome freak you out. I know it's not easy for everyone, but try to practice managing your anxiety over what you don't know. If you can't, grad school will rip you a new one, in terms of mental health. It sucks, but that's the way it goes :/

You sound like you've actually gotten the right preparation, and you sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders. Just stay calm and study. We're rootin' for ya!

Edit: Just wanted to add, two years from now, you'll amaze yourself with how savvy you've gotten. It just kinda happens if you stick with it. Best advice I can give you is to keep an eye on your mental health, or better yet, pay a professional to keep an eye on it for you (i.e., therapy). Grad school can wear you down, and no one sees it coming.

The OP is an undergrad, not a grad student.

 

[Twigg]

My bad.

OP, you're doing great! Don't stress yourself out. Just do what you can! You're ahead of the curve.

 

[Twigg]

The best self-study resources for this topic will undoubtedly be old PhD theses from your group, but they're time-consuming. That's how the grad students in your lab learned this stuff (as well as lots of conversations from super knowledgeable folks).

Alternative method: Buy lunch for one of the grad students in your lab, and get them to teach you. How do you get a grad student to do something? Free food.

That being said, you aren't expected to know everything about the project in detail. Make sure you completely understand your given project first before trying to grapple with the hard physics.

 

[mpresic3]

I see you are an undergrad, and given what you stated, it looks like you are doing well. I suggest if your advisor seems approachable, to see him with your concerns. I'm sure he or she was an undergrad once, and
being familiar with the undergrad curriculum at your university or college, will understand your concerns, and suggest certain remedies. He may suggest you first extend your EM theory with the following sections in Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, or the following sections in Principles of Optics, by Born and Wolf ... (advisor add sections and make other sections).

In general, as you progress, whether you are employed in industry, governement or academia, you want to avoid "skipping" levels of authority. If you have a problem with the research material, you want to see your advisor, before complaining to the department head, or worse, the academic dean. Just like at work, you want to see the immediate supervisor, rather than the director of the laboratory, etc.

You are in a active and exciting field of physics. My undergrad institution (and possibly your current one) also had and has a strong quantum optics research, and unfortunately, I did not understand or at least did not appreciate the content of quantum optics until after graduation, or I might have conducted research in this area like some of my teaching instructors did, before they got research assistantships.