Comments on: Physics Books for a Math Ph.D. Student

By: wilson ferreira

wilson ferreira — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:31:46 +0000

Why dont all those quarrelers use their time to learn/do whatever math they like/think important instead of sparring with all that blablabla; I guess they would really get more pleasure out of politics/rethorics than math after all……

By: John Baez

John Baez — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:23:48 +0000

Every mathematician should be an expert on PDE. Every mathematician should also be an expert on number theory, topology, differential geometry, algebraic geometry, complex analysis, functional analysis, category theory, probability theory, mathematical logic, group theory, and much more. Every mathematician should live to 1000.

By: John Sidles

John Sidles — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:35:31 +0000

Martin’s Manifold Theory: An Introduction for Mathematical Physicists provides a very clear bridge between two communities … especially good for complex manifolds.

By: Idont Getoutmuch

Idont Getoutmuch — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:12:47 +0000

Regarding books on geometry and physics:

I’m reading Semi-Riemannian Geometry With Applications to Relativity by Barrett O’Neill at the moment. Maybe that fits your requirement of physics from a mathematical point of view.

By: anon

anon — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:59:13 +0000

Regarding books on geometry and physics:

In addition to Nakahara’s book, try (for symplectic geometry) “Symplectic Techniques in Physics” by Guillemin and Sternberg. I also like Choquet-Bruhat & DeWitt-Morette’s “Analysis Manifolds and Physics” Vol 1 and 2. And I would recommend at least some parts of “Quantum Fields and Strings: A Course For Mathematicians” by Deligne et al.

By: Grétar

Grétar — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:30:50 +0000

Thanks very much, I’m going to take a look at it.

By: John Armstrong

John Armstrong — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:24:59 +0000

Grétar: try Nakahara’s Geometry, Topology, and Physics. It’s part of the IoP’s “Graduate Student Series in Physics”.

By: Grétar

Grétar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:12:28 +0000

I guess this is as good a place as any for this question. Do you guys know of good books to study physics from a mathematical point of view? I’m very interested in the relations between physics and algebraic/symplectic geometry and representation theory, but my knowledge of physics is not good enough.

By: John Armstrong

John Armstrong — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:43:32 +0000

Of course I’m aware. But is your average analyst? Are even all Haskell programmers aware of the theoretical underpinnings of their language?

By: Idont Getoutmuch

Idont Getoutmuch — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:58:34 +0000

I’m surprised to hear category theory still described as “abstract nonsense”. You are aware that a lot of Haskell programmers use in it their day-to-day activities? For example, monads are used for a whole variety of applications.