What got you interested to be a theoretical physicist?

Question: What got you interested to be a theoretical physicist?
- Keywords:
  theoretical
Asked by anon-256832 to Sarah, rosiehayward, Richard, Megan, Jordan, Adam on 12 Jun 2020.
- Sarah Appleby answered on 12 Jun 2020:
  
  For me I was interested in physics in high school. I remember reading popular science books and going to the local astronomy club which got me into astronomy, then I went on to study physics at university. I think as you explore physics more and look into more fields you will inevitably find some topics which really interest you and others you’d rather skip over, it will vary from person to person!
  
  What I like about astronomy and studying galaxy formation is that it brings together lots of areas of physics that are important over different scales. On large scales, gravity works to pull material together and form planets, stars, galaxies. Then at small scales there’s nuclear fusion in stars which uses quantum mechanics and particle physics. Galaxies are also full of gas and plasma, so you need thermodynamics and electromagnetism as well. Really interesting trying to balance all these competing effects!
- Adam Baskerville answered on 12 Jun 2020:
  
  Whilst I was studying astrophysics at university, I became more interested in the mathematical and theoretical aspects of physics. This was mainly due to studying modules in quantum physics, particle physics and condensed matter physics which opened up a whole new world which I found extremely fascinating. My favourite subject is mathematics, and theoretical physics, albeit a broad term is usually concerned with applying mathematics to real world problems in order to develop a model and theory to describe the phenomena being studied or predict new phenomena. The shorter version of my answer is that I enjoy applying mathematics to real world problems!
- Jordan McElwee answered on 12 Jun 2020:
  
  I’m actually an experimental physicist, so I work to develop new experiments to test ideas that the theorists have.
  I do have a big interest in theoretical physics though! I think what I found most fascinating was the bridge between experiment and theory, called phenomenology. This is a branch of theory that focuses on the observable affects of a theory. This is where someone who works in experiments can come along and try to design an experiment that looks for this.
  I think I first became interested in this area was during A-Levels, I loved learning about the crazy experiments people had completed to discover the science we know today (and some of them are really mad!).
- Rosie Hayward answered on 12 Jun 2020:
  
  I became interested in becoming a theoretical physicist in particular when completing my first ever summer research placement in physics. The project included both experimental and theoretical parts, and while I enjoyed both, I found a real sense of satisfaction in working on theoretical problems. I’ve always enjoyed mathematics, problem solving, and puzzles, so it felt like quite a natural choice.
  
  Before this placement, I didn’t have a very good idea of how theoretical physics research worked. It seemed very complicated and daunting, but in reality it’s not so different from conducting an experiment: you have a problem to solve, and you try to solve it different ways based on ways people have solved problems in the past. It’s not so different from solving a new problem in a physics exam – you’ve probably solved and different problem in class before, and can use that to solve the new one!
  
  I also like theoretical physics as my work is flexible and portable (most of the time), which suits me. If you would like to leave work at the office at the end of the day, it might not suit you.
  
  I would definitely recommend giving different types of research a try to find out what you enjoy!
- Megan Maunder answered on 29 Jun 2020:
  
  I’m not actually a physicist- I’m a Mathematician! I’m actually an applied mathematician and mainly work with observations. I wanted to pursue Space Weather because I found it fascinating and I like asking lots of questions!

Question: What got you interested to be a theoretical physicist?

Comments