I\'m an aspiring physicist who wants to self study some Quantum Physics. My thir

Question

I'm an aspiring physicist who wants to self study some Quantum Physics. My thirst for knowledge is unquenchable and I can not wait 2 more years until I get my first quantum physics class in university, so I want to start with a self study. I am enrolled in a grammar school and the most gifted among the gifted (not my description, mind you, I hate coming off as cocky, sorry) are enrolled in a special 'project'. We are allowed to take 3 school hours a week off in order to work on a project, which can be about anything you want, from music to mathematics. On the 4th of April we have to present our projects. Last year an acquaintance of mine did it about university level mathematics, so I thought, why not do it about university level physics? It is now the 3rd of October so I have half a year. My question is, where can I conduct a self study of quantum physics? Starting from scratch? And is it possible for me to be able to use and understand the Schr

Explanation / Answer

ust pick up Dirac's book "The Principles of Quantum Mechanics" and read it in conjunction with "The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol III". Don't waste time with linear algebra, the entire content of the undergraduate courses can be learned in half a day. Don't worry about the infinite dimensional nature of the thing, just reduce all the spaces to finite dimensions.

Also, be aware that "gifted" is a political label that has nothing to do with you, it's just a way for schools to segregate students by their future social class. It's not the analog of special needs, because the students in gifted classes are no different from the students in usual classes, except that they are given a slightly better education. Don't be fooled by a label into thinking you are somehow special, everyone is ordinary, including Einstein and Dirac. One has to do good work despite this, and those folks show it is possible by assiduous effort.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.