Btukfyl

I've done my Master's degree in Computational Mathematics. Then, because of several reasons, I decided to pursue my Ph.D. in the field of Quantum Chemistry.

The problem is, obviously, my lack of knowledge in this area. I'm studying, but even in my second year there are still many things I don't understand or which I understand incorrectly.

Now I'm stuck on one, probably pretty basic, concept, where I'm not able to find the proper explanation either on the Internet or in my books and my friends seem to be also quite confused by it (they seem to have just some general idea, as they have, probably, never needed to use it).

Now I'm not sure if I should ask my Ph.D. supervisor about it. Is it considered appropriate to ask your advisor about (probably) basic concepts in Ph.D. program? I'm afraid he'll think that I'm not willing to study the topic myself and that I'm wasting his time.

If your colleagues in the department—presumably also PhD students—don't understand the concept, either, it doesn't strike me that the question is truly "basic." That said, if your advisor is aware of your background, then he should know that there will be some things that might not be "obvious" to you.

Now, in this case, you have already "done your homework": you've searched for an answer on your own but couldn't find one. Mention this to your advisor when you ask the question. A good advisor will recognize that you have done what you're supposed to and provide some guidance to help you. He may not provide you all the answers but should at least be able to point you in the right direction.

Consider the risk-reward tradeoff here.

If you keep quiet and use the wrong interpretation of this "basic" concept, you risk spending the rest of your research time producing nonsense, because you did the equivalent of assuming 2 + 3 = 23.

If you ask your supervisor, you risk looking a bit stupid for five minutes.

The choice seems like a no-brainer to me!

Don't ask any basic question if you haven't first googled it or looked it up on wikipedia.

If you read a couple of papers, and still don't understand, you can ask.

No. It’s better for both of you to understand each other and make sure you’re going in the right direction. Neither of you wants to find out later that what could have been a short conversation has instead been weeks or months doing pointless work based a misunderstanding.

It’s normal to ask for clarification if you’re unsure of anything. Academics do this with each other all the time due to their different backgrounds and specialties. It’s part of a healthy and supportive student-supervisor relationship. They have a responsibility to guide you.

That said: Don’t waste their time. It is your responsibility to show what you’ve done to solve your problems and explain what you need from them clearly. They’re very busy and often working on multiple projects. Still you can and should ask for clarification if you’re unsure you understand their answer, even if it’s on seemingly basic topic. If they don’t have time to explain it to you, they can recommend resources to review the topic. They should never humiliate you for not knowing on the spot. Their role is to guide and train you, not test you every step of the way.