Wolfram Physics Project and Foundational Science Track
Offering an unprecedented opportunity to contribute to Wolfram’s search for the fundamental theory of physics, the Wolfram Physics track is primarily intended for advanced research-oriented students in mathematics and physics, as well as those with strong backgrounds in algorithmic programming.
These projects will leverage key ideas from Stephen Wolfram’s book A New Kind of Science, along with more recent innovations made by the Wolfram Physics Project, to study Wolfram models—a new class of discrete models for the fundamental structure of spacetime—and use them to make cutting-edge contributions to our understanding of general relativity, quantum field theory and mathematical physics. A project in the Physics track has the potential to form the basis of an academic publication or thesis, and particularly successful projects may be featured as part of the Wolfram Physics Project itself.
Schedule OutlineWeek 0: June 17 – June 21,2024: (Remote) Full-time attendance is expected during this period.
- Attend technical lectures on the Physics Project.
- Attend study group sessions on content from the technical lectures.
- Advisor assigned for each student.
- Mentor pairing and project selection with Stephen Wolfram.
- Suggested reading: Technical Introduction, Technical Documents
Week 1: June 23 – June 28, 2024
- Basics of Wolfram Science (lectures)
- Hands-on tutorials implementing Wolfram Science methods in the Wolfram Language
Week 2: July 1 – July 5, 2024
- In-depth lectures on Wolfram Science and application areas (physics, biology, social sciences, historical contexts, philosophical implications, etc.)
- Special-topic lectures (previous topics have included science-based careers, how to pick a research project, how to write a paper and how to start a technology company, as well as outlines of physics, aspects of scientific history and much more)
Week 3: July 8 – July 11, 2024
- Guided and solo project time
- Presentation preparation
- Final student presentation