1

How much depth of mathematical understanding do you need to understand (theoretical) physics well at the level of graduate texts in E&M, relativity, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory etc? I know it’s most important to be able to use mathematics as a tool, but is there any benefit to reading pure mathematical books to understand the proofs of theorems in analysis, differential geometry, differential equations, algebra?

Qmechanic
  • 201,751
cushingtriad
  • 79
  • 4
  • 2
    I think this is a good question, but it's probably not appropriate for this site. I'm not going to vote to close it, but I would guess it will be closed as opinion-based (since everyone will have different opinions about how much mathematical detail is important in physics). These sorts of 'meta' questions (questions about doing or learning physics, as opposed to questions about physical calculations or concepts) are not that well-received here for cultural reasons. – d_b Jan 07 '22 at 00:46
  • Some physics people will get something from pure math, but some physics people won't. There's no definitive way to answer this. Note that a lot of physics is experimental and you don't necessarily need an in-depth knowledge of the math to do that. Personally I think most physicists have what I'd call an engineering math approach - rigor in math is not as important in much of physics IMO. – StephenG - Help Ukraine Jan 07 '22 at 01:34
  • It will depend on what path you take through physics. Each of the subjects you mention has its own emphasis, and different levels of maths. The only one that is going to help in nearly every possible physics app is calculus. Get as much of that as you can cram in. Otherwise, mix-and-match to the subject and level. – Dan Jan 07 '22 at 01:37
  • Possible duplicates: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/234/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Jan 07 '22 at 02:05

0 Answers0