Which university/country to apply for phd in physics.

[Anonymous Khoo]

Hey everyone,

So here's my situation. I'm currently a masters student in Physics, in Malaysia (South East Asia). I am very interested in computing and numerical methods, and I would ultimately hope to take a PhD in Physics, and be a researcher in theoretical physics. Then I've heard about quant - and the job fits my interest quite well. Given that physics jobs are quite scarce, I would think it's a good alternative career to consider.

Ideally I would like to continue pursue phd in Physics (interest reasons). But I would need to make myself available to quant too. I'd like to iron out the details and get input from you guys:

1. I'll need a very numerical field in Physics. I am currently in laser physics (quite a little of matlab and simulation), but I plan to get Lattice QED in PhD. Is there any other fields that are highly numerical that I should consider?

2. Where should I get my PhD? I have originally planned to get my PhD in NZ. But a quick search seems to show that quant arn't highly sough after in NZ either. Is there any place I should consider? Does US companies generally need PhD in US? Ideally I won't want to get into US since I already had my masters - going to US would take me another 5 years again.

I'd hope for advises and mentorship - Really need to learn from the success ones!

 

[Barny]

What areas of physics are you interested in? Lattice qed is dead field.

 

[Anonymous Khoo]

Hmm... I'm interested in anything that needs tons of numerical/simulation - I'm still open to choices.

 

[Barny]

And why are you interested in that? Are you sure you're not just telling yourself you're interested in numerical/simulation physics to give yourself the best shot at being a quant?

Hint: simulations are used to simulate something. What is the something that you are interested in? The simulations/numerical methods are merely a tool.

 

[Dave Haan]

1. Statistical mechanics, rather obviously.

 

[Barny]

1. Statistical mechanics, rather obviously.

Which areas of statistical mechanics? All of the profs I interviewed with in statistical mechanics were interested in analytical stuff. Very little numerics.

 

[Dave Haan]

What areas of physics at doctorate level focus on numerics? Of course there's an analytical slant. It's what the analytics are about that carry over; after all, arxiv.org qfin split off from cond-mat.

More in AnonKhoo's neck of the woods, a friend of mine who crossed over has spent years investigating application of Reggeon Field Theory to finance, fwiw.

 

[kwlmy]

If you're interested in computation and numerical methods, perhaps a degree in computational and applied math is more suitable.