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 (4+)
See all- (EARLIER START TIME) Fundamentals of Electricity & MagnetismLink visible for attendees
*** ATTENTION: Going forward, E&M Fundamentals will start meeting an hour earlier, at 11pm Pacific time, rather than at midnight. Please update your calendars. ***
[ Suggested homework to do prior to June 15: Problem 1.27. First solve a 3x3 and then 5x5 grid by hand and solve a larger grid by writing a computer program to take advantage of the pattern you find. ]
Come to our brand new class for the fundamentals of electricity & magnetism, taught at an undergraduate level by one of our own members, Amey Joshi! This class complements our Advanced Electrodynamics study group (see below for details) and is presented at a more accessible level.
- This is a one-semester, introductory course, held once a week. There will be an hour of lecture followed by up to an hour of group discussion and problem solving.
- Between meetings, we 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!
To accommodate students around the world, this event is scheduled for 7am British Time, which is 11pm in the evening in the Pacific time zone.
We're following a classic and freely available text by Edward Purcell, Electricity And Magnetism, second edition. (Later book editions switch to SI units but we are choosing to use Gaussian units from the second edition in order to make it easier to go on to more advanced readings.) You can find PDFs online if you don't want to buy a hard copy.
Additional resources that can help:
- Jakob Schwichtenberg’s No-Nonsense Electrodynamics gives a great supplementary explanation of concepts.
- David Griffiths' Introduction to Electrodynamics is a popular text used in both undergraduate and graduate courses.
- MIT OpenCourseware course which uses this book and provides supplementary materials.
Prerequisites: Some amount of college calculus and physics. We will share with you a number of useful resources that the group offers to help you through any topics you’re struggling with.
If you are interested in a more advanced, graduate-level treatment of electrodynamics, please considering joining our Advanced Electrodynamics meetup series, held every other Saturday at 10am Pacific time. Find the next session on our Meetup Events page.
This event joins our other existing collaborative study tracks. Please note that this particular meetup series is a highly mathematical meetup for everyone who is serious about learning physics at a university level. 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 & Make Friends event, held every third Wednesday of the month.
- Advanced study group: Quantum Field TheoryLink visible for attendees
(Returning physicists: See below for June 16th homework.)
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This is an advanced study group for folks committed to learning quantum field theory rigorously. Everyone with an undergraduate background in math or physics is welcome to attend. Before you sign up, please make sure you’re comfortable with multivariable integration, partial differential equations, and other concepts taught in upper division undergraduate math courses.This is not a casual discussion or philosophy group; we’re here to study, solve problems, and get an operative insider’s knowledge of the fundamentals of QFT as it is used in contemporary physics research. If you’re not able to dedicate time between each session to work on problems, this is not the event for you.
Our primary text is Lancaster & Blundell‘s Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur. Each semiweekly meeting consists of a continuous rotation of group members volunteering to teach approximately one chapter of material at a time, followed by problem solving and open discussion.
If you're a first-time visitor to this event or the Physics With Friends community – please know that you are very strongly encouraged to come join us even if you feel like you're too far behind. Our events are specifically structured to accommodate new people joining us at any point along our studies.
In addition to the live group discussions over Zoom, we also maintain a chat server for staying in touch between meetups. Ask us for a link.
This event joins our other existing collaborative study tracks. Please note that this particular meetup series is a serious study group for math and physics enthusiasts who are interested in learning the material deeply. It is not a general discussion group. For casual physics chat, please attend our regular Monthly Physics Discussion event, held every third Wednesday.
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June 16 suggested homework:
- Read chapter 40.
- Solve any problems that seem interesting to you.
- If you are new here, ignore the above and just read Chapters 0 and 1 and come to the meetup!
- Weekly Open Self-Study & Office Hours for Previous AttendeesLink visible for attendees
This is a weekly Zoom meeting (see below for link) for anyone who's already attended our previous meetups to have (mostly-)quiet self-study time on any topic in physics or math. The goal is to recreate the feeling of being in the same study room together, just like in college. So leave your camera on! You may come and go at any time during study hours.
Unlike our other events, this is not a facilitated or structured event and there is no specific topic of study. Sometimes people may decide to work on the same topic together, and other times everyone will be reading or solving problems on their own.
Although this is primarily a quiet study session, talking is allowed as long as it's on the topic(s) of study and with the purpose of asking a question or helping someone. Otherwise, please be courteous and respectful of other people by leaving your microphone off.
This event complements our other meetups, which are subject-specific, structured learning environments.
If you are new to Physics With Friends, before coming to this quiet self-study event we ask that you please come to one of our other meetups first so that we can get to know one another.
*** ZOOM LINK ***
The Zoom meeting URL is a pinned message in the #study-buddies channel. If you don't know what this means, it's because we haven't met you yet. Please come to one of our meetups and we'll help you get set up.