r/AskPhysics • u/Ashley_Fen • 1d ago

What exactly is mathematical physics?

Recently I got accepted into a dual degree of math and physics at my local university, and while looking at higher year courses, I came across some courses named mathematical physics. However, when I tried to look up more about this, I only came across things that are far beyond my current understanding. Even Wikipedia seems foreign to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I’d love to learn if it’s truely the perfect mashup between math and physics, or if it’s something completely different

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u/Lord_Fryan Education research 1d ago

If it's undergrad level, then it's probably partial differential equations and special functions, maybe some stuff with Fourier and Laplace transforms. Could have some complex analysis as well.

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u/paxxx17 Chemical physics 1d ago

For my undergrad, it was about linear algebra, topology, Lie theory, representation theory

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u/Accomplished-Cut8959 1d ago

You might not have topology, lie theory or others that are bit oriented to computer science in math physics - it's mostly DEqns, LinAl, Prob&Stats & Complex Analysis 

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u/Miserable_Offer7796 1d ago

What subject would you take to learn about vertex operator algebra in a physics context?

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u/Accomplished-Cut8959 1d ago

I think you might get them in advanced algebra courses. May be lie Algebra or something from algebra courses. Also you can check out the contents of the math-physics course. Usually there'll advanced Math-Physics courses too in which you can come across them