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I am always baffled how in all the articles (theoretical ones), there is no explicit calculations, or at least some reference how to find it, or where to find it (the calculation).

I get that, for example, in articles about quantum gravity, one would have 30 or 40+ pages paper if you'd include a whole calculation, but it's so frustrating for me, as an undergraduate student , to read an article and see that something is either "trivial", or just given the result without at least some steps given.

How am I supposed to learn something, if I cannot find reference on how it's done? And most of the textbooks are giving you just the bare minimum to understand it. Or the reference on how it's done is another article where everything seems like it fell from the sky.

I'd like to see how someone came to some solution explicitly. I often try to derive the result the author gave, and I get stuck at one point and I have no idea how he got the result, and that gets pretty frustrating. I am lucky I have physics SE so I can ask here, and someone who has a much greater knowledge is glad to help, but if P.SE (or other SE sites) didn't exist, I don't know were I'd find all the explanations :\

How does one learn from all this? : (

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    $\begingroup$ I feel ya. Generally research articles in specialised journals are meant for people already working in and very familiar with that field. So you ought to look for publications in less specialised journals, or the review articles which are published every couple of years in most fields. These have a broader and more pedagogical perspective, and they do tend to be very long compared to original research papers, sometimes hundreds of pages. Some textbooks are fine for self study, but most require having someone walk you through it a bit. But it is very important to do the exercises! $\endgroup$
    – Michael
    Oct 14, 2013 at 10:09
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    $\begingroup$ Depending on the field you may also be able to find good lecture courses on sites like PIRSA, KITP, IAS or elsewhere. Look on the arxiv for lecture notes on your topic. Also look for monographs (learn how to request your university library to get something!) and summer schools on the topic, which often release notes or video lectures these days. Most university libraries should host free workshops on getting the most out of literature searches. Make the most of that. They can also help you find obscure things. $\endgroup$
    – Michael
    Oct 14, 2013 at 10:12
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the support :) I have found living reviews in relativity, and I have one article that should help, but that article is just reviewing most of the known stuff, or again gives some information without saying were that information came from :S As for exerices, it's often hard to find exercises in the field I'm interested in, and if I find them, I have no solutions to check if that's correct xD So I'm at the square one :\ I'll look at video lectures, altho I'd rather have a book or something I could study from. $\endgroup$
    – dingo_d
    Oct 14, 2013 at 10:20
  • $\begingroup$ Fair enough... different learning styles. :) If you'll bear with a little more advice from a big time self-studier: talk to the other students and the faculty of your school. Students know what you are going through. And if they know how keen you are, and see you have the ability, most faculty are happy to provide you with as much support as they possibly can. If you are doing a research project with an advisor be very open with them about your struggles. It can be very helpful to know someone who's been there before. Sounds basic but it took me an embarrasingly long time to learn this stuff. $\endgroup$
    – Michael
    Oct 14, 2013 at 10:40
  • $\begingroup$ To specifics: what is your topic? $\endgroup$
    – Michael
    Oct 14, 2013 at 10:45

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