Any physics lover out there?

**b1lancer** · April 27th, 2010

This was an unusual thread but I had to jump in!

I thoroughly enjoy physics, especially classical mechanics. It's fun to learn, fun to do labs, and fun to teach. And physics is one of those fields where math is center stage.

**durand** · April 27th, 2010

Originally Posted by Chronon

How can you do astrophysics without relativity? Also, particle physics rests on both relativity and quantum mechanics.

That's true, but I intent to specialise in stellar astrophysics and I don't think there's too much QM or relativity. That said, I actually don't mind either anymore but I still don't find them interesting like other branches of physics.

**Chronon** · April 29th, 2010

Originally Posted by durand

That's true, but I intent to specialise in stellar astrophysics and I don't think there's too much QM or relativity. That said, I actually don't mind either anymore but I still don't find them interesting like other branches of physics.

It is fortunate that people have different interests. It would be awfully crowded if we all wanted to work on the same problems.

**hubie** · April 29th, 2010

Originally Posted by durand

That's true, but I intent to specialise in stellar astrophysics and I don't think there's too much QM or relativity. That said, I actually don't mind either anymore but I still don't find them interesting like other branches of physics.

If you want to be an astronomer/experimentalist, you'll need to know enough QM to understand spectroscopy because that is almost the only tool you have to study anything outside the solar system. And know enough relativity to understand the relativistic Doppler shift, because all your spectral lines will be shifted.

On the other hand, if you're just going to be a theorist and write MHD models of stellar atmospheres, than you really don't need to know any physics after all.

**Miguel** · May 1st, 2010

Physics lover here as well. I am not into HEP, though. I partly blame that on my nuclear physics professor, because I did enjoy quantum field theory a lot (6 months course, first half of Peskin & Shroeder's book). I'm in the group that find String theory more a phylosophy than physics, although I got a couple of friends that are heavily into it.

My main interest is condesed matter, although my heart also warms a lot towards optics (both "classical" and quantum optics, mind you).

EDIT: I find it hilarious that someone likes physics but dislikes QM, relativity and even electromagnetism. There's not that much more, is there? The "truest lie" also known as thermodynamics springs to mind.