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Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics , which uses experimental tools to probe these phenomena.
Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and observations, such as Galileo's experiments , to more complicated ones, such as the Large Hadron ...
There is a debate about the status of computation within the scientific method. [4] Sometimes it is regarded as more akin to theoretical physics; some others regard computer simulation as "computer experiments", [4] yet still others consider it an intermediate or different branch between theoretical and experimental physics, a third way that supplements theory and experiment.
In physics, the term theory is generally used for a mathematical framework—derived from a small set of basic postulates (usually symmetries—like equality of locations in space or in time, or identity of electrons, etc.)—that is capable of producing experimental predictions for a given category of physical systems.
In physics and other sciences many thought experiments date from the 19th and especially the 20th Century, but examples can be found at least as early as Galileo. In thought experiments, we gain new information by rearranging or reorganizing already known empirical data in a new way and drawing new (a priori) inferences from them, or by looking ...
Domains of major fields of physics. Branches of physics include classical mechanics; thermodynamics and statistical mechanics; electromagnetism and photonics; relativity; quantum mechanics, atomic physics, and molecular physics; optics and acoustics; condensed matter physics; high-energy particle physics and nuclear physics; cosmology; and interdisciplinary fields.
Theoretical Physics is associated with the theory behind the subject as well as the application of mathematical models, which are used to describe and predict various hypotheses. This sub-type of physics goes hand in hand with the contrasting experimental physics. Both of these sub-types are being studied in the Beecroft Building. [5]
In theoretical physics and mathematical physics, analytical mechanics, or theoretical mechanics is a collection of closely related formulations of classical mechanics. Analytical mechanics uses scalar properties of motion representing the system as a whole—usually its kinetic energy and potential energy .