<p>I'm an incoming freshman and I'm 99% sure I want to major in physics. However, my college's mathematics requirement for the major is extraordinarily lenient. This is an excerpt from the website:</p>
<p>"Students who wish to major in physics are required to take the first two semesters of College level calculus (Mathematics 111 and 121) and nine additional [physics] courses."</p>
<p>I took Calculus BC my junior year of high school and got a 5, which exempts me from that math requirement. This past year I took Multivariable Calculus / DiffE and didn't do too well (I got a B and a C, respectively). The teacher was also terrible and I don't think I took much away from either class.</p>
<p>Anyway, my question is: should I take any classes beyond my school's requirements and if so, which ones? I want to go on to grad school, so a very strong math base is necessary. Should I retake differential equations? Knock the math classes out early or spread them out?</p>
<p>Partial differential equations, Fourier series, advanced differential equations, complex function theory… Yeah, I just looked at course descriptions of the courses that follow Diff Eq / Multivariable. Physics majors at my school are required to take those math classes that don’t really have a specific name to them (Advanced mathematics for science and engineering).</p>
<p>If you don’t remember much about multivariable calculus or ODEs you should probably retake those classes. The other big missing class is linear algebra. After these a class on PDEs would be quite beneficial, as well as a class on numerical analysis/methods. You should also look into taking a few computer science classes.</p>
<p>This is hardly all the math a physics PhD student needs but if you take more classes you’ll probably spend a lot of time on stuff that isn’t relevant, spend not enough time on topics that are relevant, and the classes will be more geared towards math majors (this will probably be the experience if you take classes on abstract algebra). I’m not a physics major so I’m not exactly sure how they learn about other important math topics but I imagine they would pick it up by reading books or guides with titles similar to “Group Theory for Physicists” and “Lie Algebras in Physics” or learn essential material as part of their physics classes.</p>
<p>It appears that your college (not hard to figure out) has a math course in the physics department (PHYS 227) that covers the sophomore level math topics like multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations, though it is somewhat surprising that it is only a semester course, and that it is not listed as a prerequisite or co-requisite for PHYS 117 or 124 (the introductory courses covering electromagnetism).</p>
<p>More typically, physics major degree programs would require the courses equivalent to MATH 211, 260, and 271 (PHYS 227 appears to be an abbreviated version of these). The equivalents of MATH 345, 350, and 355 may also be recommended.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus That actually explains a lot. I am also somewhat concerned that they abbreviated all that math to a semester course. I think I will consult the physics dept. directly to ask them if it would be a good idea to substantiate PHYS 227 with a traditional course in mathematics.</p>