I emailed to a professor about a research question. In most cases I reply to them asap. In some scenarios I think I cannot do this asap because:
- He asked me a very difficult question that takes a long time to get an answer.
- I don't have any further questions for now. But I might have them in the future.
- He does not show any interests on me. He's response is professional yet short (little interests). He does not ask me any questions. I don't have too much to say.
From what I read on this site, people seem to suggest that, since a professor reads thousands of emails, I should not bother to send another email unless it includes a considerable amount of new information.
However, my advisor told the contrary: to show respects, I should almost always send the last email: professors can ignore me but I cannot ignore them. For example, in case 1 I can say that "I will spend more time on this problem", in case 2&3 I can say that “Thank you for your answers. May I email you again if I have other questions later?". My advisor said something like: although everyone is equal, there is still a hidden "hierarchy" thing: lower people are expected to show more respects and do more works to maintain the relationships. I think he is trying to be honest here.
What is the standard etiquette in USA?