Welcome to the IAP 2021 Homepage for Mathematical Physics
The course is created by Professors Mehran Kardar and William Detmold
(With thanks to Michal Szurek for segmenting the videos)
Time and place: at your discretion
Justification: With the typical introduction to mathetmatical tools in focused mathematics courses, or specialized science classes, students may fail to appreciate "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences" (Eugene Wigner, 1960). An alternative would be to start with a natural system, and demonstrate how expression of its behavior inevitably leads to certain mathematical constructions. Physics certainly brings a plethora of systems which can be used to demonstrate emergence of mathematical forms that can be cast as inevitable consequences of basic principles such as continuity, locality, and symmetry. This may help the student form a less rigid view of physical laws and corresponding equations, and more attuned to appearance of the same mathematical forms in distinct contexts.