Choosing a Research Area and an Advisor As a Physics Major
In the previous part, I described the trials and tribulations of going through the qualifying exam that almost all graduate physics students have to go through. In this part, we will assume that...
View ArticleInitiating Research Work As a Physics Major
It has been a while since the last installment of this series, so let’s recap on where you are right now. You should already made a choice on the physics subject area that you want to work in, and...
View ArticleResearch Work and The Lab Book As a Physics Major
Now where were we? Oh yes! You have now started with your actual research work. You and your adviser have agreed on at least the general type of area you will be working in and you have started to...
View ArticlePublishing in a Physics Journal As a Physics Major
At this stage, you are well into your Ph.D research work, and depending on what area of physics you are in, you may already start producing new results. This next part of the series will cover an...
View ArticleOral Presentations As a Physics Major
I mentioned earlier that there are two ways for physicists to communicate their work. The first is via publications in peer-reviewed journals. I have covered this in the last chapter of this...
View ArticlePublishing in a Physics Journal (Addendum)
When I first wrote this part of the series, I wasn’t quite sure if I should include this. for most people submitting to most of the physics journals, this isn’t an issue. But considering the number...
View ArticleOral Presentations – Addendum | Physics Career
I’ll try not to make a habit out of this, but I believe there’s something to add to this chapter of the series. In Part XIV, I mentioned the APS Meetings – March and April – which typically tend to be...
View ArticleWriting Your Doctoral Thesis/Dissertation As a Physics Major
At this stage, you have performed your doctoral research work, maybe even have published (or about to publish) a paper or two, and may have presented your work at a physics conference. It is time...
View ArticleYour Physics Thesis Defense Guide
At this point, you have completed writing your thesis, your adviser has approved of it, and you have distributed it to all the members in your thesis committee. It is now time for you to do your...
View ArticleHow to Get a Physics Job!
In the previous chapter, we have reached the point where you have finished with your thesis defense, and also thesis submission to the graduate school. You are all set to go into the nasty physics...
View ArticleHow to Get a Postdoctoral Physics Position
If you intend to pursue an academic/research career, chances are, you will need postdoctoral experience. This is typically a 2 to 3-year appointment either at a university, national laboratories,...
View ArticleYour Curriculum Vitae As a Physics Graduate
I am going to backtrack a little bit and talk about writing your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and what you should focus on in search for a job in physics. This includes looking for a Postdoctoral...
View ArticleThe Most Important Thing You Can Learn from Physics Forums
It is a bit pompous of me think that I can actually tell you the most important thing you can learn from Physics Forums (PF). After all, each one of us here has different reasons for being on this...
View ArticleYou Will Not Tunnel Through a Wall
We periodically get questions on PF about people wanting to know of a tennis ball, a ping pong ball, a person, a cow, etc. can tunnel through a wall, or fall through the ground. This is due to an...
View ArticleMisconception of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
One of the common misconception about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) is that it is the fault of our measurement accuracy. A description that is often used is the fact that to observe the...
View ArticleWhy You Should Not Use Wikipedia As Your Primary Source
It is no secret to anyone who has read my posts in this forum for a while that I do not like Wikipedia. I think that there’s a fundamental flaw with the whole concept and philosophy of it. While I...
View ArticleDo Photons have Mass?
Do photons have mass? The quick answer: NO. However, this is where it gets a bit confusing for most people. This is because in physics, there are several ways to define and measure a quantity that we...
View Article“Violating” Einstein’s Photoelectric Effect Model
One of the most spectacular theoretical descriptions that Einstein had ever produced is the corpuscular nature of light that he used in his 1905 photoelectric effect paper. In fact, there have been...
View ArticleImagination Without Knowledge Is Ignorance Waiting to Happen
My feelings on people who think that imagination is more important than knowledge is well-known. These people simply are parroting Einstein’s phrase without understanding the context and...
View ArticleWhy Is Acceleration Due to Gravity a Constant?
This question has popped up many times. So here is an attempt to address it. To answer this question at the elementary level, a number of assumption will be made, which will become obvious later on....
View ArticleDo Photons Move Slower in a Solid Medium?
This question appears often because it has been shown that in a normal, dispersive solid such as glass, the speed of light is slower than it is in vacuum. This FAQ will strictly deal with that scenario...
View ArticleSee an Electron Lately?
This is not about seeing an electron, but rather, the notion that seeing something with our eyes is the end-all requirement for the validity of anything. I will show that our human eye, as a light...
View ArticleEnergy Gained by Charge in an Electrostatic Field
I have seen this question being asked frequently on here. A lot of students have a bit of an issue in understanding why, if an electron is placed in a field with potential V, that the energy gain after...
View ArticleSo I Am Your Intro Physics Instructor
I posted this elsewhere (on my personal blog), and someone mentioned that maybe it might also be useful here on PF. So I’m reproducing the entire entry here in case it might make a difference. This is...
View ArticleWhy Is Quantum Mechanics So Difficult?
Strangely enough, QM’s formalism isn’t any more difficult than other areas of physics. The mathematics of the “standard” QM isn’t any worse than, let’s say, electromagnetism. Yet, to many people,...
View ArticleFake News and Science Reporting
During and even after the recent US election campaign, there were numerous reports of fake news, made-up news, and other kinds of news that were deemed either outright fabrication, or inaccurate or...
View ArticleWhat Is The Most Important Thing That You Learned?
I mentioned in an earlier Insight on what I think are the most important things you can learn by being on Physics Forums. This time, I tackle the question on what I think is the most important thing I...
View ArticleRevamping Undergraduate Introductory Physics Laboratory
This is a compilation of my blog entry on this singular “project” to change the way we conduct the introductory physics laboratory in most US universities. I think we are missing a tremendous...
View ArticleVery Little Excuse To Ask A Question Cold
We frequently get questions such as these: “What is energy?” “What are Cooper Pairs?” “What is conservation of momentum?” etc…etc. And the persons who asked such questions didn’t bother to explain the...
View Article“Classical Physics Is Wrong” Fallacy
One of the common questions or comments we get on PF is the claim that classical physics or classical mechanics (i.e. Newton’s laws, etc.) is wrong because it has been superseded by Special Relativity...
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