Math Courses
Mathematics is an indispensable part of the structure of physics, and the Departments of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics offer a wealth of courses of value to students of Physics. Your mathematics program can and should be tailored to your own background and your own interests. The Department of Physics, after canvassing its students and faculty, provides the following suggestions for your course selection.
Since mathematics provides the logical framework where physical laws can be precisely formulated and their predictions quantified, students with highly developed mathematical skills tend to have a greater advantage in a physics course. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that students begin their mathematical studies at Brown as soon as possible, and at the highest level consistent with their mathematics background. A student interested in becoming a physics concentrator should, at the end of the first two years, have taken math courses continuously at least through Intermediate Calculus, and preferably through linear algebra.
For those who plan on entering graduate studies in physics or related fields, a solid foundation in Linear Algebra, Ordinary Differential Equations, Fourier Analysis and Analytic Functions is highly recommended. Familiarity with Partial Differential Equations, Probability and Statistics, Group Theory, Differential Geometry, etc., will also prove to be useful. It is also important to bear in mind that, quite aside from their immediate usefulness for physics courses, mathematics courses should be considered for their own intellectual content and as independent components of a broad scientific education.
Physics 172, Methods of Mathematical Physics is offered in the Fall.
