I've Been Stuck On This Problem For... (Vlog)

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

SPOILERS: Seeing some people ask why I didn’t more or less just write a code to do the combinatoric thinking for me. The reason is because I didn’t spend 3 years thinking about combinatorics, I spent 3 years looking elsewhere for the problem. Once I had the idea that it could be the combinatorics, I fixed it in a day. Then it just took less than a week for me to really convince myself and generalize the procedure.

[@Ikantspell4]

Congratulations on the breakthrough! 🎉 I know the feeling of conquering something that's been a struggle. One part frustration it was originally missed- one part thrill of knowing you cracked it. Publish already so you can share it with youtube(me). You also will benefit from anything you have an author attribution on. I'd love to hear about the publishing process. Who gets their names on it? Are there lots of rounds of writing? Is there much discussion about how to present it? Do you or your adviser consider either one to be the principle? Lots of times managing the relationships of the involved researchers and the publishing process is as interesting as the research. These things never hapen in a vacuum and the collaboration and work that goes into it is as interesting as the science.

[@nateheh1016]

Was this the only thing preventing you from finishing?

[@Stopinvadingmyhardware]

not my problem is it?

[@LavenderTown40]

Babe wake up. New Andrew Dotson video just dropped.

[@qoweed]

Babe died already ig

[@bengordon4630]

Andrew, I hope you realize how inspiring your videos really are for aspiring physicists. To see you talk so openly about your process as a grad student/nuclear physicist/A(term)-list celebrity is so helpful and assuring for others who have/want to do the same. Keep being awesome :)

[@robertsteinbeiss8478]

also for old students of physics btw. ... in the sense of staying in touch 😂

[@sotpau]

Same for me as a maths student. Sure, I don’t really understand anything he says but his love for the subject is inspiring.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Y'all give me too much credit, but I appreciate it🙌

[@thejeremiah1266]

@@AndrewDotsonvideos ITS TRUE

[@Physics22KU]

YOU SOUND LIKE DEREK MULLER FROM VERITASIUM

[@Tony-S.F.]

I started watching your videos when I was a masters student, commenting that you should LaTeX your assignments, and now I'm finishing my first year as a math professor. Times flies.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Wow that’s amazing!

[@astro_penguin_]

Omg congratulations!

[@imsleepy620]

This is like struggling on a PSET problem for like 6 hours only to realize you forgot to account for some subtle detail which finally gave you the solution in like 4 minutes (painfully speaking from experience rn), but instead of 6 hours it's 3 years. P.S. Having started my double bachelors in math and physics, I can say you've been one of the greatest inspirations for me following this route. Started watching in freshman year of high school and now I'm in college. I'm sure I'll find these grad student vlogs a lot more relatable in 4 -5 years lmao.

[@andrew-ub4ku]

Yooo im also a math/physics double, just started my undergrad last year! Will update on my progress in 4 years lol

[@imsleepy620]

@@andrew-ub4ku lmao yeah I'll set a timer on my end. see you then

[@shutupimlearning]

@@andrew-ub4ku one of us, one of us, one of us

[@Choose52]

Aghhhh this brings back bad memories

[@AdityaKumar-pz3ko]

​@@shutupimlearningfellow man of culture. People who think TBBT is overrated, they are weird.

[@Jinouga502]

I have a buddy I work with. He has his PhD in QFT and he had a similar experience as you did; he was stuck on a single calculation up to the last year of grad school for his PhD. Needless to say, the problem basically helped him become the crazy good physicist he is today. Congratulations on pushing through and figuring this one out, you've gained a lot of confidence and it shows!

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Thanks for sharing!

[@jamesdavid6985]

Damn Andrew, I just finished the video and I'm so proud of your progress! 3 years has come to this! I'm a Master's student in Physics right now but I've been watching you since my freshman year. Good luck to you with the rest of your PhD journey!

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Thanks a lot!

[@sapphirezephyr5050]

Hey Andrew, I started watching your videos a few years ago in high school when I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I'm starting my PhD in HET this fall, so I wanted to say thanks for being an inspiration.

[@maureendotson4634]

Congratulations!!

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

The kids are grown 😭

[@vaibhavk2400]

Oh in high energy physics theory or did you mean something else?

[@viniciusjdasilva8555]

Congratz man . As a fellow grad student I really appreciate that u share with us the ups and downs

[@RC32Smiths01]

Wishing you the best in being to scratch that Physics itch you've had for so long. Really inspired by your sheer will and passion you have for such an intricate subject. Cheers as always man.

[@luanjoenelle4014]

andrew uploads = immediate happiness

[@akuwardmoments]

You inspired me to keep track of my journey through my PhD. I only just started, and I'm studying chemistry rather than physics, but physics is still really valuable for what I'm working on. Thanks, Andrew. Thanks for everything!

[@yash-sri]

I love how out of literally all of the ways to describe the probability thought experiment, Andrew chose him falling off the cliff 😂

[@nicholaskellett2327]

Well done! Those problems can lead to a dark rabbit hole and the fact you came out of it means you're up to the task

[@carrielynn808]

This video is really special. It captures what I love and miss about research - a feeling I never quite got to experience at this depth from the undergraduate level. This feeling is exactly why after years of being in the workforce I’m returning to grad school this fall. Thank you for your genuine experience that you share through your vlog.

[@littlecousin5630]

I’m the 100th person to say this: I’ve been watching you since I was a sophomore in highschool, and you documenting your time as a physics student is one of the reasons I chose pure math as my lot in life (a relatively strange turn of events). Now I’m a junior in college, and your videos remain as one my greatest motivators… and they’re always pretty damn funny. On a side note, no idea what’s happening here. But I’m here for morale

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Haha you saw me approximate one too many times on my channel and said pure maths might be the route for you instead🤣

[@Airsofter4692]

Well, I'm very happy to learn that I'm not the only one completely incapable of calculating symmetry factors! Anyway, congratulations! I completely resonate with your reaction when you solved the problem. That amazing feeling when you finally understand something is the best thing about research :-) PS: I was also happy to see Weinberg QFT on your shelf at your start - those books are heavy going, but incredible

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

I was so sure the consensus was going to be that it was a mistake no one else would have made😅 the solidarity is strong with this community

[@ariqahmer]

I'm not a physicist but a Computer Science undergrad. And seeing your videos makes me want to pursue masters and PhD as well. You are a true inspiration Andrew!!!

[@TheCynicalPhilosopher]

Banging your head against a problem for a long time can be frustrating and discouraging, but there is nothing like that feeling of finally figuring it out.

[@marcushletko8258]

Congrats Andrew! Even though I’ve only started watching your videos for about a year, you’re one of the reasons I got into physics. I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for the physics community.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Thanks a lot!

[@hfjfvufvfwjdujd7758]

Have you tried integrating by parts ?

[@parkerhays2841]

Thanks for being a huge inspiration! Started watching many years ago and in 2018 commented that I was commiting to a Physics undergrad. Now I'm in a PhD program in (experimental, sorry) plasma physics. Keep it up you have provided a lot of inspiration (and entertainment) for many people over many years

[@sekzi]

Keep up the good work, you’re an inspiration to all us aspiring physicists!

[@eigenchris]

I really admire you dedication. I think stuff like this is why I'm really not compatible with grad school. I don't think I have the emotional resilience to work on a problem like this for years. I have to wonder if there are any software packages that help compute the combinatorics issues for Feynman diagrams. It makes me sad to think of the collective time people have spent trying to figure them out.

[@UnforsakenXII]

There are partial packages however there are many QFTs that are complicated enough (due to symmetry structures) where alot of it is not very useful for most interesting questions. You might get an answer but often knowing why is more important.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Eigenchris, phD, is a mythical level physicist

[@Laay_]

Shuuuuut up, you are just amazing. Congratulations for everything and keep rooolling!!

[@naikathrowaway0110]

You are an ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE inspiration and motivation. I loveee the way you make me love physics without even trying. I am so humbled to be watching you learn, grow and helping others feel the same way... Thanks for everything you do

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

🫂

[@caradeenchilada5987]

Man, I started watching your vids a few months before starting undergrad, hyping myself through it, excitedly waiting for the next step and now, close to 5 years after I'm finishing the first year of my MSc (gravitation) Thanks for motivating and being an inspiration for me and so many others

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

🙌🏻

[@jeremielhomme8572]

It is always a nightmare to spot your own mistakes! Great job!

[@ahadmrauf]

Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. Student here, and I can totally relate with these feelings. The sad thing is, usually these insights that take weeks to figure out end up being only a few sentences in a final paper, which is why it's so easy to overlook when trying to read up on past work (if the authors decide to include all their assumptions or intermediate steps at all)

[@pattyhchrist]

Thank you for a showing an uncomfortable part of physics. Its refreshing to see this. There is beauty in your observation because you are determined to fully comprehend and not just take the easy way out.

[@LaithMMA]

Finally, you have uploaded again! I have eagerly awaited this moment for an extended period of time. Your exceptional content is greatly appreciated, and I consider you a legend. Thank you for your valuable contributions.

[@austynhughes134]

Love having your back Andrew! And congrats on finally solving that problem. It is such an amazing feeling.

[@__8474]

Incredible work! I’ve been following your channel for years now, since I was starting my Alevels (so like,early 17 years old). You helped me keep my passion for the subject going, and realise the progress I have made over the years. When I started watching it was a matter of ‘wow I wish I could do that’. Now I am studying manifolds and have already read 3 books on QM (all with different approaches, which is interesting) and also atleast 1 book on each pillar of physics, and I am in my second year of uni. I wouldn’t be where I am without your content, so truly, thank you.

[@Jo_0ne]

"Were all perturbative people here, were all friends" this is so good and so true! Whats life without little perturbation huh? Anyways, youre an inspiration and it has been soo great watching you progress over years! Keep it going man and keep perturbing

[@joshua.ryan.powell]

Feeling stoked on your behalf over here. That was awesome!

[@DMOND-qg2cg]

the first time ive wittnessed an upload from you. I have been binging you old videos :)

[@speedspeed121]

I started watching your videos when you were a junior. At the time, I was just taking my first GE classes at CC. Back then, I knew I wanted to major in something difficult and I loved physics TV shows, but I didn't think I was capable of being a physics student. I mean, I literally knew no math, not even basic algebra; I had no idea what the phrase "solve for x" meant. Your videos inspired me. They made me passionate about math and physics. This past June I graduated from UC Davis with a Physics degree. I owe you for your motivating videos.

[@EccentricTuber]

Today's a good day. This is a great topic to cover!

[@stevendiaz2378]

NICE. HELL YEAH. I’m hyped for you. I can only imagine that feeling of getting Some nice progress on a problem that hasn’t been solved before!!!!! Must be insane. I get BURSTS of excitement like that after having wrestled with a textbook problem. Lol good stuff. great job man .

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Thanks a lot!

[@tobiasschererdasilva1847]

I'm very excited to read your thesis after it comes out. Good luck Andrew!

[@alighasemi4655]

🎉🎉🎉 congrats man, there is a sense of relief that you finally finished a project that sometimes made you think you may never see the graduation day!

[@AstroMathics-y8l]

You're really an inspiration to me. You inspired me to apply for a summer school on relativity in my local university. I hope I can be a physics major like you when I graduate high school!

[@BKthePerson]

Hey Andrew, your videos have been and continue to be a huge source of inspiration for me. Good luck! Thanks for sharing this!

[@griffindc]

i clicked on the channel like an hour ago out of curiosity, that's some funny timing

[@connornash571]

Yes bro congratulations! I bet that one felt good! Shows that determination pays off 👍🏼

[@testobjektx1242]

This was such a pleasure to watch. The wittiness... amazing.

[@weird407]

I know there are many messages like this, but I want to thank you for your videos over the years. I watched you when I was struggling to find a new bachelor after dropping out of physics. Now next week I am starting my PHD in electromagnetics. Thank you!

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Best of luck with the phd! Glad you still made your way back to physics ;)

[@daltonz]

You inspired me to pursue a PhD in Applied physics in the coming FALL semester. I have watched you since high school… thank you!

[@BarriosGroupie]

I vaguely remember in the book _Strange Beauty_ Gellman recalling how he was struggling with strangeness as a quantum number and thought he made a mistake when giving the spin of some particle in a lecture; paused for a few seconds and then realized his problem was solved using this change in thinking. I think the lesson is that as we familiarize ourselves with a problem over many months/years, the embarrassingly obvious answers can only be seen and appreciated by our expert peers.

[@ceciltaylor9319]

I love watching these so much! I'm originally an Accounting major, but through side study I get to work in an internship under a respected professor at my Uni in Computational Fluid Dynamics and Electromagnetics this summer! These videos are why I love physics.

[@HershO.]

Despite not getting a lot of what you're saying, it looks cool enough for me to want to pursue physics as a career, and I'm not even an HS junior yet. Always a delight to see you and/or papa flammy upload from each other's basements.

[@AdityaGaur-dj3vx]

Bro I love this video…thank you for showing us the struggle..I hope you achieve all your dreams

[@ScienceAsylum]

Man, being stuck on a project question is a real thing! You're just sitting there for months (or years) all like "WHY DOESN'T THIS WORK?!?" Then, suddenly, there's an epiphany and you solve the problem in a day. I remember being confused for 6 months, only to realize part of my calculation wasn't treating things relativistically 🤦‍♂

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Yup or saying you’ve chosen a frame where the particles have specific momenta components just to realize after that the frame doesn’t exist 😂 Let’s talk about physics sometime!

[@mundan3smith385]

Just got Griffiths E&M for my birthday! Thanks for the great content Andrew

[@MRF77]

Andrew, I have been following your channel since I was in high school. Now as a fellow phd student, I think understand your pain/perspective a little bit! I do condensed matter and anytime someone asks how things are going, my answer is pretty much "life sucks!"

[@MrOrazze]

Great to see a video from you, hope everything else in life is going well

[@joshfriedman9775]

LOVE YOU ANDREW!!!!! KEEP UP THE HARD WORK

[@tahrimahmed8888]

I'm now in my junior year pursuing Physics and I have been watching you from my high school days. Really proud of you man.

[@TheChronUltimate]

Thanks, Andrew, and nice work! So far my PhD has been one big lesson in how to get myself unstuck in situations like these. Glad to see I'm not the only one.

[@StarBreaker987]

Always happy to see updates on your PhD Andrew

[@Dan-vt9vk]

Congrats on finding out where your calculations have been going wrong! I hope the rest of your project falls into place smoothly now. Great inspiration for this Physics PhD student who's been struggling with a system of equations for the past 18 months. I found something promising today but don't want to get too excited. There have been so many false dawns already 😅

[@theproofessayist8441]

Good to see you again Andrew - hope you are doing well - keep posting awesome content.

[@Danny-ql2it]

As a sophomore physics student i didn't understand a single thing but i know this is what i wanna do with my life. You're such an inspiration thank you

[@_sofie]

Congratulations on solving the problem! I think it says a lot that the video was so engaging for someone like me who can’t calculate 5% of 80 without getting confused.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

5% of 80 = 80% of 5 =4. Sometimes I forget math works that way lol.

[@MikeOxolong]

Congratz! You must be proud, can't imagine the work. :)

[@garvett6660]

I was literally re-watching all I could on your channel right now, hiping for another video. Looks like something’s on my side.

[@WindmillEntertainmentGames]

I've been binging your videos the past few weeks, this video is definitely a huge level up for you, both in content and editing. Super proud of you ❤

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

Thanks a lot, I definitely put more time into this one, I appreciate you noticing!

[@colin8923]

This is so exciting to me. Having problems like this to work on sounds like something I'd want to do when I am in grad school or later. I really enjoy theory over practice (unfortunate as it may be for my wallet one day), so this problem seems, strangely enough, exciting.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

I can relate to that!

[@colin8923]

​@AndrewDotsonvideos I appreciate the reply! I've been binging your videos for about a week, and they've been so helpful. I began with your skit videos because they're hilarious, then I watched so many of your undergraduate and graduate physics major videos and a bunch of videos about your personal journey. They've helped me solidify my choice to be a physics major when I go to college next year. Thank you!

[@lucamattioni7690]

Wow, you must feel so good! Congrants for your work! That is really inspiring and I could certainly say that physics research has gone a little fuether! Congrants again!

[@tarwin5317]

Hey andrew you probably are not gonna read this comment however i would like to say you have single handedly made me motivated to become a physicist. The exams in Malaysia are really hard however I am gonna try my best and become a physics major. Only very few universities even offer physics course in Malaysia.

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

You can do it, best of luck with your studies!

[@johnchristian5027]

Nice vid! Great to see what you have been up to and how you solved the problems that arised!

[@Mohammad-tw7cq]

An Andrew upload is like Christmas except I'm smiling.

[@onesimesirois]

THE LEGEND HAS RETURNED

[@PHILLYMEDIC69]

jesus christ good thing I didn't go to grad school and went to medical school instead. You almost made me travel down that rabbit hole, Andrew. Thank the lord.

[@GiI11]

I feel so happy for you, Andrew!

[@qubeat8702]

Wow, seeing this video has also enlightened me about myself. I started watching your videos when I was an undergraduate (1st or 2nd year, don't remember) and I didn't understand most of what you were saying. Now, I'm a first year graduate student and I understood like immediately what you were talking about (or know where to learn/search more about it) throughout the whole video, as I'm also specializing in particle physics.

[@brycemyers2308]

Congratulations! You’re a huge inspiration.

[@LampTLDR]

Love you Andrew

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

❤️

[@Aycore2011]

Welcome back Andrew!

[@phenixorbitall3917]

Congratulations! Good luck for your thesis - I've got a good feeling about it 👍

[@AitoNitram]

Super cool stuff, was happy af when you said you'd actually solved it. But what surprised me was the Gracie Barra shirt!

[@theknightikins9397]

I just got into and committed to Florida Institute of Technology to study physics. I have loved your videos (despite not knowing basically any of what you’re talking about) and it has helped and grown my love for physics. I’m excited to start this journey for real, here’s hoping I can get to a place like you.

[@kevingrant5904]

Thanks to your amazing videos I’m on my way to finishing my 3rd year and starting my 4th year of Physics at university.Thanks Andrew

[@zoonpolitikon1648]

You inspired me to start this channel to document my academic journey and research last year I applied and got rejected from two PhD programs in the USA like you did several years ago and I hope to also get into my dream PhD in the USA like you did and I am going to apply again this year, but I am going to work to strenghten my application. You are an inspiration.

[@gabrielam2757]

I don't even believe it one of my favorite physics youtuber also into the underrated band Lawrence! You have a good music taste, my dude!

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

They are hands down my favorite band 😂

[@krishvasa7644]

I'm a medical student and started watching your videos for fun while preparing for entrance exam for getting into medicine (physics is included in that entrance exam). Even now your videos are simply entertaining to watch even though I don't understand a thing, and watch them to just freshen up my mind when i don't want it to get too lazy if you know what i mean😅

[@shubhsrivastava4417]

Wow Andrew, you're a big boy scientist now!

[@nonw2158]

HES ALIVE thanks for telling us youre alive andrew we missed you

[@supernovaxs9480]

When the world needed him most, he returned

[@harshsharma03]

What a coincidence lol, I missed your channel and binged some videos yesterday.

[@Adam-wx9jp]

"He's gonna point out flaws in both of those steps and I'm just gonna drop out" are words every student working under a professor has said.

[@jforster29]

Great job with your research! You have persevered.

[@marianaavalosarce5393]

Greeeeat video! I love to see the process of a researcher. Thanks!

[@jelteduchene7845]

In your toy example draw x as a vertex with 2 edges. That the S-factor is just all different way you can connect your, now 3, vertices.

[@mistertheguy3073]

Congrats for solving it man!!

[@growvile]

Congrats Andrew!!

[@CassieAngelica]

Welcome back!

[@atheoristspointofview7059]

I remember watching your vids back in high school, im now seeing just how accurate everything you've said about Jackson lol

[@atheoristspointofview7059]

It's super exciting actually realizing I can understand what's going on in one of your technical videos

[@atheoristspointofview7059]

Congrats on solving it, I know the feeling of finally finishing a problem that took several days, can just imagine how it feels to finish one that took years lmao

[@AndrewDotsonvideos]

@@atheoristspointofview7059 love it!

[@isobaric]

ANDREW DOTSON DROPPED! WELL DONE MATE!

[@agrajyadav2951]

Congratulations, Sir Andrew Dotson!