<p>I was just wondering what the String Theory course (250) is like at Caltech. It looks extremely interesting and challenging. Has anyone taken it? If so could you tell me about it? Thanks.</p>
<p>Ph 125 (intro graduate level quantum mechanics) is a prerequisite for Ph 205 (relativistic quantum mechanics), which is a prerequisite for Ph 250 (intro to string theory), and most people don't take Ph 125 until their junior year, so very few people end up taking Ph 250. That said, there is no enforced requirement to fulfill "prerequisites" for the most part, it's just for your own sanity/understanding. There are no exams for Ph 250 and the course is graded pass/fail, but it's still probably extremely hard. It uses Becker, Becker and Schwarz primarily, I think, and most of the problems are taken from there, so you could get a good idea of it from that book. </p>
<p>I have heard that Ph 236 (relativity) is the hardest class at Caltech, and quite a few undergrads survive that, so I'm sure Ph 250 is possible. You just don't want to take more than one 200-level class at once and most people seem to prefer GR to string theory. If you want a more convenient intro to string theory, Ph 134 is just a single term and is designed to fit nicely into a physics major's junior year. A more popular full-year course for string theory is Ph 235 (intro to supersymmetry and string theory.) I think you'll find that with many of the pset-based graduate level physics classes, getting a small army of undergrads to take the class at once is really helpful. Going it alone is hard. You will probably be the only undergrad in 250 unless you can convince others to take it. I've noticed that with 235, some years only a few (2-4) people take it, and others a whole bunch (15+) take it. Of course, that's probably just because those are the years when Kip Thorne is teaching it. :)</p>
<p>One of the perks of being a physics major at Caltech is you get to have physics-gasms every time you read the course</a> offerings. Also, you have to take 90 units of any 100- or 200-level physics or related courses in addition to Ph 125 and Ph 106, which is a really good excuse to have a masochistic schedule (like we needed one?)</p>