• Question: what is your favorite area of physics?

    Asked by purdysohma to Mark, Matthew, Mike, Paul, Sabina on 10 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Matthew Malek

      Matthew Malek answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      My top two areas are particle physics and astronomy/cosmology. One studies the universe at its smallest scale, and the other at the largest. There’s a small area of overlap between the two, covering topics like ultra-high energy cosmic rays, dark matter, and neutrinos. It’s this area of overlap, astroparticle physics, that I am most drawn to.

      You can see a visual cartoon of this overlap section in what I call “the Cosmic Oroborus”. An oroborus is a legedary serpent that devours its own tail. If you look at the following link, you should see what I mean:
      http://tinyurl.com/qep4xxn

    • Photo: Sabina Hatch

      Sabina Hatch answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      It is hard to narrow it down, because it often changes the more I know. When my sister talks about her field in astrophysics I find it fascinating, expanding our minds to focus on things so far away and so huge we can barely comprehend it…and then on the opposite scale we have particle physics where scientists use powerful machines to smash invisible particles. I think it is incredible how fast we are progressing in our knowledge.

      But I would say my favourite area of physics is what I am doing now, mainly because I understand it quite well and can appreciate its complexities. I would say it is a mixture of material science and device physics.

    • Photo: Mike Lee

      Mike Lee answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      Optics for me!

    • Photo: Paul Coxon

      Paul Coxon answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      My favourite area of physics is what I’m doing now – materials science!

      Cosmology and astrophysics never held any great interest for me at school, they both seemed so… distant. Interesting nonetheless, but not for me.

      Materials science involves studying the matter around us, and applying what we learn in new and novel ways. It’s a highly creative field with a bright future ahead of it. Human advances have always depended on the development and refinement of new materials, and now, in the 21st century this has never been more true.

    • Photo: Mark Jackson

      Mark Jackson answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      I admit I am torn. Half of me wants to say “Cosmology,” because that is what I do. And I do it because it answers the really “Big” questions about our Universe: how it started, what it is made of, where it is going. It also has advantage that our knowledge of cosmology has evolved extremely rapidly in the past few years, and only recently have we obtained a basic understanding of the Universe as a whole. But I admit it is unlikely to have a direct affect on our daily lives anytime soon. I am also concerned that there will be a stagnation in its development, since it is difficult to find funding for physics which does not have an obvious industrial application.

      The other half of me wants to say “Quantum computing.” This could revolutionize computing and technology in so many ways that our current technology would seem as antiquated as rubbing two sticks together. I am excited about what will come of this field, even if it is not as “poetic” as examining our place in the Universe. I also think it will continue to develop rapidly, since there is an obvious benefit to industry if successful.

Comments