Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#11

Post by physicsthrowaws » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:10 PM UTC

I am about to defend my thesis in physics and will probably start a data science job afterwards (have had a few second round interviews, waiting for offers/rejections). Note that my thesis work did not contain big data or machine learning, but I have completed a couple of outside projects. I am in the US and in a top tier university/program.

My perspective is that there is just not many academic positions available. I realized I could do a couple of post docs for a few years and hope that something opens up, or not delay the most probable outcome and start an industry career sooner rather than later.

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#12

Post by musgravepeter » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:12 PM UTC

(PhD, 1996 in general relativity)

Embedded graphics drivers for real-time systems.

I keep the physics part of my brain alive by developing physics based Unity assets (nbodyphysics.com) and supporting a package for GR on github (grtensor).

I still buy WAY too many physics books. Current aspiration is to work through "Modern Classical Physics" Thorne/Blandford.

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#13

Post by mjburgess » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:12 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #10

When I got my PhD (1999) the American Physical Society said that you had a 2% chance of getting a permanent job in the field with a PhD. At that point you are not being judged on your merits but on your connections, ability to navigate politics, etc. (The job is way too valuable compared to the value you can give to it.) I saw a postdoc who is now rather well known struggling with anxiety over his career even though…

> I'd come to the conclusion that many papers involving "power law" distributions were bogus

> after he had tenure, that he published something about it in a statistics journal

If I'm reading you right, you're saying he struggled for awhile doing bogus things only to question those things outside the relevant field?

(Also, can you say more about power law papers..?)

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#14

Post by rodolphoarruda » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:13 PM UTC

killjoywashere wrote: post #3

ktpsns wrote: post #2

Academic trends are ruled by money. In theoretical physics, computer simulations is where the money is. For the students, that means they are doing computer science related work, frequently the physics part is lacking. The route to leaving physics and using the data science capabilities is then a straightforward one.

I work with a few PhD physicists, one is a technical program manager in applied optics and ML; one is an individual contributor in optics and ML, and the other one is pretty straight stick ML. I bailed on physics after my bachelor's, ended up in medicine and now ... work in ML, with them. I don't think I ever heard anyone tell me, or any of my classmates "you should get a PhD in physics". It was something one did to…

>20 years ago, the guidance was to look for jobs in finance or computers

It was 2003 when the company I was working for acquired InterBiz from Computer Associates. By the time we were integrating teams from both companies I met this guy who were the guru, the #1 product manager from one of the most profitable lines of business that the company had. I remember the shock in people's faces when he, a Portuguese guy, said he's got a PhD in Physics, in Germany, in a second language to his own, but then ended up developing Warehouse Management Systems (WMS).

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#15

Post by criddell » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:13 PM UTC

Insanity wrote: post #7

I'm not a physicist but studied physics before jumping to programming. A surprising amount of people whom I studied with ended up as programmers themselves, after finishing the physics degree.

Are you happy with the path you took? Are you still happy with the time you spent studying physics?

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#16

Post by megnaro » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:14 PM UTC

musgravepeter wrote: post #12

(PhD, 1996 in general relativity) Embedded graphics drivers for real-time systems. I keep the physics part of my brain alive by developing physics based Unity assets (nbodyphysics.com) and supporting a package for GR on github (grtensor). I still buy WAY too many physics books. Current aspiration is to work through "Modern Classical Physics" Thorne/Blandford.

I bought Modern Classical Physics last summer as a birthday gift to myself and I am also slowly going through it.

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#17

Post by s9w » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:15 PM UTC

I have a degree in physics and work as a software dev (c++). No one cares for physics in the industry, but it's indirectly taken as a sign that people aren't morons. I never used anything I learned at university at work. About half of my colleagues have physics or Math degrees, other half EE or CS.

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#18

Post by grigjd3 » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:15 PM UTC

I worked in numrel before and was even offered a tenure track job focused on teaching. I didn't want to work 70 hour weeks though. Now I focus on my family and data pipelines seem like a nice hobby.

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#19

Post by shifto » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:16 PM UTC

majewsky wrote: post #8

Insanity wrote: post #7

I'm not a physicist but studied physics before jumping to programming. A surprising amount of people whom I studied with ended up as programmers themselves, after finishing the physics degree.

My first degree was in physics as well, and I also ended up in IT. At SAP, to be exact. Urban legend among German SAP employees has it that SAP expands to "Sammelplatz arbeitsloser Physiker" (gathering place for unemployed physicists).

I know a few people at SAP (NL/DE) who are overqualified for the job they are doing and seem bored/uninterested. What's an insiders perspective of this?

Re: Ask HN: Physicists of HN, what are you working on these days?

#20

Post by joycian » Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 1:19 PM UTC

mjburgess wrote: post #13

PaulHoule wrote: post #10

When I got my PhD (1999) the American Physical Society said that you had a 2% chance of getting a permanent job in the field with a PhD. At that point you are not being judged on your merits but on your connections, ability to navigate politics, etc. (The job is way too valuable compared to the value you can give to it.) I saw a postdoc who is now rather well known struggling with anxiety over his career even though…

> I'd come to the conclusion that many papers involving "power law" distributions were bogus > after he had tenure, that he published something about it in a statistics journal If I'm reading you right, you're saying he struggled for awhile doing bogus things only to question those things outside the relevant field? (Also, can you say more about power law papers..?)

I read the comment as implying that the colleague had published a paper on power law distributions in order to publish (pressure) while the poster knew that the colleague did not believe in the subject.