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FYI, I have a PhD in physics and spent many a late night hour solving theoretical quantum mechanics problems, as well as those applied to statistical mechanics
by jeffwass 11y ago
FYI, I have a PhD in physics and spent many a late night hour solving theoretical quantum mechanics problems, as well as those applied to statistical mechanics and solid state physics.
And yet I'm still inclined to agree with Feynman.
- s-macke 11y agoFor me quantum mechanics is something like a complex cooking receipe. We have equations, we know what we have to put into these equations to solve certain systems. The rest is just an endless variety of coordinate transformations, model assumptions and approximations. And this is the part most physics students struggle.
- jeffwass 11y agoFeynman is not talking about just "turning the crank" as it were, but actual deep intuitive understanding of the 'why'. I agree with you that after you know how to setup the system you want to analyse, turning the mathematical crank can be straightforward and sometimes not so interesting.