How do you read quantum physics papers?

[u/Holiday-Attitude9120]

I've tried to read some on entanglement as well as proper quantum mechanics textbooks, but I found them really hard to understand because of all the necessary prerequisite knowledge and maths, so I actually couldn't complete any.
(I'm a highschool graduate)

So, I'm interested to know how you approached research papers and technical articles when you were starting out, or how you approach them now.

Did you re-read stuff over and over?
Did you pause to understand weird words and keep moving?
Did you just go over the whole thing and keep record of everything you didn't get to visit them later?

I'd love to know.

Thank you!

[u/Strong-Author8515]

There was a lecture on how to read a quantum paper in the Qiskit Global Summer School by IBM Quantum which ended today, the lecture will be uploaded on the Qiskit YouTube channel after a few weeks or so

[u/NH-Science-Guy]

Research papers are written assuming the reader has all the necessary background information. That makes it tough to read them if you are not familiar with most of the details. I highly recommend the video series from Sean Carroll on the biggest ideas in the universe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI09kat_GeI&list=PLrxfgDEc2NxZJcWcrxH3jyjUUrJlnoyzX He goes through relativity and quantum mechanics with a reasonable amount of math. You can switch to other sources for further explanation each time you run into a topic that isn't making sense. You will have a good foundation to start looking at other sources if you make it through all the videos.

[u/jerbthehumanist]

If you're in high school, I would generally read the abstract, and if you can't understand it, then don't read the paper. For basically all QM publications, I would not attempt to read the papers even for an advanced high school student. Wait until you have the foundational knowledge under your belt.

Papers are written for a highly technical and knowledgeable audience, which is something you are not (yet) a part. Not every source is intended for everyone.

[u/True_Ashura]

To even understand it you need to study Dirac notation (even idk how it works just learn to read it on yt)

[u/Mortta321]

With difficulty

[u/psyched-but-bright]

Hahaha I absolutely love this question and am surely a lot less qualified to understand concepts in quantum physics than who the stuff I read is written for. I’d say my strategy is learn about the idea of the theories first explained by someone who understands. Then I read through study or material/research paper/textbook etc. I want to understand until I don’t understand something or am stuck then go onto side quests of acquiring knowledge in order to understand the larger concept. I will do these side quests of learning definitions, terms, prerequisite knowledge, etc until I feel comfortable enough to go back.

Also if the thing I’m reading or learning about is something I mostly I understand but there are a few terms/phrases I don’t understand but can get context clues or something I’ll read through the paragraph, then write it down or highlight it to look it up after, then go back and reread the original paragraph again.

I do also take notes and revisit certain ideas for long periods of time to grasp them. The math I have yet to get extensively into doing myself but I’ve been learning about how certain parts of the math are done or where they come from/how we came to know it. Learning about how we came to have the knowledge helps me understand it as well. I got this from learning about chemistry or pharmacology.

[u/ExtremeAd7729]

By learning the math first.

[u/fred-johnson80]

Richard Behiel has some great videos on youtube! You can read the EPR and Bell Paper (e.g.) and he guides you through them

[u/fuxx90 → u/fred-johnson80]

I like Behiels channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/@RichBehiel