I am sorry, but I think Group Theory is dull. Dull as ditch water, in fact. I thought I might like it, on account of me being horribly dyslexic and having a knack for visualising 3d shapes and their permutations. But, Group Theory has been made sufficiently boring by the O.U, that any fun, for me, left the building about three weeks ago.
So, I am finding that I am having to drag myself through the Groups material, which means that I haven't studied it in as much depth, as the intro materials. I understand, from the day school discussions, that the O.U's method of presenting Group Theory, is just one of many ways of presentation and approach. Another, method being; the understanding that Groups have to be constructed exactly how they are, otherwise without them, we couldn't make algebra work, for example.
To explore that aspect of Groups, would have been interesting and the tutor made a good attempt to do so, last month at the day school. But, the O.U's general treatment of this subject is still B.O.R.I.N.G.
Even so, my enthusiasm for discovering more about Groups, has not been diminished; as I own a book called Adventures In Group Theory, which is all about the applications of theory, to solving the Rubik Cube. Much more satisfying! Check the above link for a freely available PDF of this book, courtesy of Durham University.
My one concern, is that I am planning to study Groups and Geometry, at level 3. I am not sure I could sustain yawning that much, for a whole nine months; so I will keep that decision under review.
You don't need the OU approach to group theory for your ambitions. What you do need is some awareness of the application of group theory to physics such as the book by Jones.
ReplyDeleteIMHO another physics course such as Electromagnetissm or the relativistic universe alsongside Quantum theory would be more valuable for you.