Undergraduate Course Handbook - University of Oxford Department ...

C3: Condensed Matter PhysicsSymmetry. Crystal structure, reciprocal lattice, Brillouin zones— general treatment for non-orthogonal axes. X-ray, neutron andelectron diffraction. Disordered materials.Lattice dynamics. Measurement of phonon dispersion. Thermalproperties of crystals. Phase transitions. Soft modes.Electronic structure of solids. Semiconductors. Transport of heatand electrical current. Quasiparticles, Fermi surfaces and interactionsbetween electrons and magnetic fields. Low-dimensionalstructures.Lorentz oscillator model. Optical response of free electrons andlattice. Optical transitions in semiconductors. Excitons.Isolated magnetic ions. Crystal field effects. Magnetic resonance.Exchange interactions. Localized and itinerant magnets. Magneticordering and phase transitions, critical phenomena, spin waves.Domains.Conventional and unconventional superconductors. Thermodynamictreatment. London, BCS and Ginzburg–Landau theories.Flux quantization, Josephson effects, quantum interference.C4: Particle PhysicsThe content of the sub-atomic physics (B2:IV) and the symmetry &relativity (B1:II) syllabus will be assumed, as will familiarity withthe Fermi Golden Rule and the Breit-Wigner resonance formulaQuark structure of hadrons. Deep inelastic scattering, the quarkpartonmodel and quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Heavyquark states.Elementary introduction to radio-frequency acceleration and beamoptics. Colliders and fixed targets. Event rates and luminosity.Triggering and event selection. Physics of particle detectors,wire chambers, silicon detectors, calorimeters, muon chambers,Cerenkov radiation detectors. Particle identification. Applicationsto real experiments.Introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics. Matrix elements.Discrete and continuous symmetries. Gauge symmetries and theStandard Model.Electroweak interactions, charged and neutral currents. Electroweaksymmetry breaking. W and Z bosons. Fundamentalparticles of the Standard Model. Discovery of the top quark andsearches for the Higgs boson.Oscillations in the K 0 and B 0 systems, CP violation. Neutrinooscillations. Ideas beyond the Standard Model and future projects.C5: Physics of Atmospheres and OceansComposition, Thermodynamics, Clouds and ChemistryAtmospheric composition and structure. Atmospheric chemistry:kinetics, radiation and photochemistry, catalytic cycles,heterogeneous processes, the Ozone Hole. Dry thermodynamics:hydrostatic equation, lapse rate, potential temperature, entropy.Moist thermodynamics: Clausius-Clapeyron equation, phasediagrams, cloud formation. Convection: buoyancy, parcel theory,atmospheric stability, thermodynamic diagrams, potential energy,radiative convective equilibrium, quasi-equilibrium hypothesis.Cloud microphysics: Kelvin equation, Raoult’s law, Köhler theory,spherical and non-spherical hydrometeor growth, freezing modes,ice nucleation, ice crystal habit. Cloud morphology and occurrence.Planetary clouds.Geophysical fluid dynamicsRotating frames of reference. Geostrophic and hydrostatic balance.Pressure coordinates. Shallow water and reduced gravity models,f and –planes, potential vorticity. Inertia-gravity waves, dispersionrelation, phase and group velocity. Rossby number, equationsfor nearly geostrophic motion, Rossby waves, Kelvin waves.Linearised equations for a stratified, incompressible fluid, internalgravity waves, vertical modes. Quasigeostrophic approximation:potential vorticity equation, Rossby waves, vertical propagationand trapping. Eady model of baroclinic instability, qualitativediscussion of frontogenesis. Overview of large-scale structure andcirculation of atmospheres and oceans, poleward heat transport.Wind-driven ocean circulation: Ekman transport and upwelling,Sverdrup balance and ocean gyres, Stommel’s model of westernboundary currents. Meridional overturning circulation: watermass formation, role of mechanical forcing, Stommel-Aronsmodel and deep western boundary currents, multiple equilibria.Angular momentum and Held-Hou model of Hadley circulations.Applications to Mars and slowly-rotating planets. Giant planets:Multiple jets, stable eddies and free modes.Radiative transfer and radiative forcingRadiative transfer in the atmosphere: Black body radiation, Earth’semission spectrum, the solar spectrum, the total solar irradiance,photochemistry, molecular spectra, line shape, radiative propertiesof clouds and aerosols. Rayleigh & Mie scattering, the equationof radiative transfer, band models. Weighting functions.Observations and inverse methodsIntroduction to remote sounding and inverse problems. Simplerandom processes as models of measurement and atmosphere/ocean behaviour, exactly-determined, over-determined and underdeterminedsystems, least-squares estimation, matrix formulation,likelihood, expectation, variance and covariance. Gauss-Markovtheorem, Bayes’ theorem, Kalman gain matrix. Examples fromatmospheric remote sounding and ocean altimetry, time-dependentinverse problems, the Kalman filter, error growth, implications forweather analysis, forecasting and predictability. Infrared instrumentsand techniques for remote sensing of climate variables.Satellite and ground-based instrumentation.48