What is the best way to prepare for a research project?

[workingman]

Hello all,

I'm currently in my 1st year of an Applied Physics MSc. In September I'll be doing a research project which involves (attempting) to prove the optimality of a quantum algorithm. In the summer I'll have some spare time so I'd like to prepare myself as best as possible.

i) Refresh my linear algebra/HIlbert spaces. Actually go through books on these subjects and try to do the proofs. This would be useful because although I'm comfortable understanding the math I didn't do a lot of proofs in my undergrad.

ii) Read a lot of papers in the area and try to get as familiar as possible with the methods/procedures used. Maybe attempt to reproduce some of the most important proofs.

iii) Do a bit of both?

I feel like going through the literature would be more useful, but on the other hand I feel like not having experience doing proofs could be a handicap.

Cheers!

 

[Joppy]

What is the best way to prepare for a research project?

Do lots of research...

I would start by exploring all the available literature you can find which relates to your topic, maybe even produce a small literature review, or the skeleton of one over the break. Revision of content will come naturally. That is, say you're struggling to understand concepts presented in some literature you found, go back and do some revision etc. But in my experience... doing a literature review asap is always a great idea.

Either way, i think you're on the right track.