Physics is a diverse area of study and in order to make
sense of it scientists have been forced to focus their attention on one or two
smaller areas of the discipline. This allows them to become experts in that
narrow field, without getting bogged down in the sheer volume of knowledge that
exists regarding the natural world.
Below is a list - by no comprehensive - of different
disciplines of physics. The list will be updated with new additions and
definitions as appropriate.
·
Chaos - the study of systems
with strong sensitivity to initial conditions, so a slight change at the
beginning quickly become major changes in the system
·
Computational Physics - the application of
numerical methods to solve physical problems for which a quantitative theory
already exists
·
Cryophysics / Cryogenics / Low
Temperature Physics - the study of physical properties in low temperature
situations, far below the freezing point of water
·
Crystallography - the study of crystals
and crystalline structures
·
Electromagnetism - the study of electrical and magnetic
fields, which are two aspects of the same phenomenon
·
Fluid Dynamics / Fluid
Mechanics - the
study of the physical properties of "fluids," specifically defined in
this case to be liquids and gases
·
High Energy Physics - the study of physics
in extremely high energy systems, generally within particle physics
·
High Pressure Physics - the study of physics
in extremely high pressure systems, generally related to fluid dynamics
·
Mathematical Physics - applying
mathematically rigorous methods to solving problems within physics
·
Plasma Physics - the study of matter
in the plasma phase
·
Quantum Electrodynamics - the study of how
electrons and photons interact at the quantum mechanical level
·
Quantum Mechanics / Quantum
Physics - the
study of science where the smallest discrete values, or quanta, of matter and
energy become relevant
·
Quantum Field Theory - the application of
quantum physics to fields, including the fundamental forces of the
universe
·
Quantum Gravity - the application of
quantum physics to gravity and unification of gravity with the other fundamental particle
interactions
·
Relativity - the study of systems
displaying the properties of Einstein's theory of relativity, which generally
involves moving at speeds very close to the speed of light
·
Statistical Mechanics - the study of large
systems by statistically expanding the knowledge of smaller systems
·
String Theory / Superstring
Theory - the
study of the theory that all fundamental particles are vibrations of
one-dimensional strings of energy, in a higher-dimensional universe
It should become obvious
that there is some overlap. For example, the difference between astronomy,
astrophysics, and cosmology can be virtually meaningless at times ... to
everyone, that is, except the astronomers, astrophysicists, and cosmologists,
who can take the distinctions very seriously.
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