The exams just ended one day back and it is good to be back home. While I am sure that for the next week or two I will still be troubled with nightmares about how I have an exam the next day and I have nothing prepared, or that I slept through the exam, etc., I am excited about the busy summer I am going to have. Why am I looking forward to being busy, you might ask. Well, because I am going to TIFR!
Going to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, has been a dream of mine since the first year of my college. I had heard so much about it: the people, the culture, the research and what not. This summer, I finally get a chance to live that dream. I will be working on a summer internship under Prof. Tejinder Pal Singh on torsion gravity. This project is scheduled to begin on May 27, 2019, and end in August. First thing on the Things to do this summer list is: work on torsion gravity. We will be working on an original research problem involving torsion gravity and I am looking forward to it. I really hope the experience will be as fun as I am imagining it to be in my mind.
Next, I don’t remember if I have revealed this or not, I will be going to Penn State University, University Park Campus, to work under Prof. Bangalore S. Sathyaprakash on testing nonlinear gravity with gravitational waves. So, I will make sure I do my background work before reaching Pennsylvania and begin working on the project formally. By ‘background work’ I mean getting acquainted with the computational techniques related to gravitational wave detection as well as read up the theory on gravitational radiation. This will involve revising a bit of general relativity which is not a problem as it will help me with the summer project as well. So, the second point on the to-do list is: study about gravitational wave detection methods and the theory of gravitational radiation. I am planning to do the theory part of gravitational radiation using Carroll’s book, so I think I will have a good time.
Finally, I will be applying for a PhD in Physics this December. Yeah, time has flown by. For the same, I will be required to give the Physics GRE. Scoring well in the Physics GRE is important for me for two reasons. Firstly, I want to be a theoretical physicist. However, the PhD positions that are available for theoretical physicists are less and at a downward trend making the selection process highly selective and very competitive. Thus, to make sure I end up with the professor I want to work under, I want a spotless profile and, right now, Physics GRE seems like the last remaining brick. To perform well in it I will have to prepare well for it. Having searched for the best resource for the test, I have found it to be a book called Conquering the Physics GRE by Kahn. So, the third thing on the to-do list: prepare for the Physics GRE.
So, here’s the final to-do list for the summer-
- Work on torsion gravity.
- Study about gravitational wave detection methods and the theory of gravitational radiation.
- Prepare for the Physics GRE.
I have learned from the last summer to not have too much on my plate; hoping three things would be manageable.