What we’re about
This is a group for anyone who has ever rigorously studied physics – or has wanted to. Here's why you'd want to join us:
- If you feel like physics is the most interesting and most difficult subject that there is;
- If you're burning with a desire to deeply understand the universe at its smallest and largest scales;
- And if you thrive in an environment of learning through collaboration with people like yourself...
... then you've found the right place!
Join us to participate in lively discussions and learn core material in serious study groups. We offer multiple tracks of study, regularly host special events and talks, and are constantly tweaking the meetup to make it more useful. We also stay in touch between meetings to motivate and help each other continue learning.
Everyone is welcome from every level of experience! Many of us are (re)discovering physics after college (sometimes long after) and it can be easy to feel rusty or underqualified. Don't fall into that false narrative! If you think some of the material in this meetup is too advanced, we want you to join us so that we can help you learn!
Upcoming events
215
•OnlineCourse on General Relativity and Differential Geometry
OnlineJoin us for a structured study of general relativity, including important concepts from differential geometry. We’re following the MIT OpenCourseWare General Relavitity class, which includes comprehensive video lectures, lecture notes, and assignments. These will be supplemented by the various textbooks and resources that you and your fellow students bring to the group.
What to expect – Here is our current format:
- Before each meeting, we will assign ourselves a lecture to watch and a set of exercises that everyone is invited to try for next time. (All of this is optional and there is never anything expected or required – this is a self-study group!)
- During the meeting, one or more volunteers will teach the lesson(s) in their own words, and others will present their solutions to (or attempts at!) the exercises.
- Between meetings, we will collaborate through our chat server and/or small study sessions during "office hours". New members should especially take advantage of these to get up to speed. Ask us for details and links to these fantastic resources!
Additional resources that many of us are using:
- Modern General Relativity by Guidry
- Visual Differential Geometry and Forms by Needham
- Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler
If you have just found this event and are worried that you're too far behind, don't worry! Our meetups are expressly structured to encourage and invite people to join us at any point and at any level of prior knowledge, as long as you've had at least some exposure to calculus and basic physics in the past. You are definitely welcome here!
We also maintain a live chat server for staying in touch between meetups. Ask us for a link.
This event is one of the many other collaborative study tracks in our Physics With Friends community. Check out all of our other events to find additional physics topics that you might want to study together!
Please note that the Relativity & Differential Geometry meetup series is a highly mathematical meetup for everyone who is serious about learning the advanced branches of math and physics that one needs to master in order to deeply understand the equations and applications of relativity. It is not a general discussion group for popular physics topics or sci-fi tangents. For casual physics chat, please attend our regular "Discuss Physics and Make Friends" event, held every third Wednesday of the month.13 attendees
•OnlineMath Methods for Physics
OnlineThis weekly study track explores the mathematical tools that can be applied to physics problems. The main text for this study track is Zee's Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists (previously Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences by Mary L. Boas). Each week, we pick some book material to cover and/or problems to solve and discuss.
These meetings are primarily question-driven, meaning that we seek to answer each other's questions about problems/topics that we have already given some effort to understand. When we cover new material from the book, at least one volunteer will give a quick summary of that material at the beginning of the meeting before we dive into individual questions. When we solve problems, individuals will present any blockers they had so that the group can help unblock them.
If you have just found this event and don't think you are caught up in material, feel free to still drop in a shadow! Everyone is welcome.
We also maintain a live chat server for staying in touch between meetups. Ask us for a link.
This event is one of the many other collaborative study tracks in our Physics With Friends community. Check out all of our other events to find additional physics topics that you might want to study together!
Please note that the Math Methods in Physics meetup series is a highly mathematical meetup for everyone who is serious about learning the advanced branches of math and physics that one needs to master in order to deeply understand the tools used in solving real problems. It is not a general discussion group for popular physics topics or sci-fi tangents. For casual physics chat, please attend our regular "Discuss Physics and Make Friends" event, held every third Wednesday of the month.4 attendees
Past events
1037
