Undergraduate Course Handbook - University of Oxford Department ...

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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
C6: Theoretical PhysicsThe mathematical description of systems with an infinite numberof degrees of freedom: functionals, functional differentiation,and functional integrals. Multi-dimensional Gaussian integrals.Random fields: properties of a Gaussian field. Perturbation theoryfor non-Gaussian functional integrals. Path integrals and quantummechanics. Treatment of free particle and of harmonic oscillator.Classical field theory: fields, Lagrangians and Hamiltonians. Theleast action principle and field equations. Space-time and internalsymmetries: U(1) example, Noether current. The idea of anirreducible representation of a group. Irreducible representationsof SU(2) and application to global internal symmetry. Simplerepresentations of the Lorentz group via SU(2)xSU(2) withoutproof.U(1) gauge symmetry, action of scalar QED and derivationof Maxwell’s eqns in covariant form.Landau theory and phase transitions: phase diagrams, first-orderand continuous phase transitions. Landau-Ginsburg-Wilson freeenergy functionals. Examples including liquid crystals. Criticalphenomena and scaling theory.The link between quantum mechanics and the statistical mechanicsof one-dimensional systems via Wick rotation. Transfer matricesfor one-dimensional systems in statistical mechanics.Stochastic processes and path integrals: the Langevin and Fokker-Planck equation. Brownian motion of single particle. Rouse modelof polymer dynamics.Canonical quantisation and connection to many body theory:quantised elastic waves; quantisation of free scalar field theory;many-particle quantum systems.Path integrals and quantum field theory: generating functionaland free particle propagator for scalar and U(1) gauge fields (inLorentz gauge).Perturbation theory at tree level for decay and scattering processes.Examples from pure scalar theories and scalar QED. Goldstonetheorem.Canonical transformations in quantum field theory: Bogoliubovtransformations applied to bose condensates, magnons in antiferromagnets,and to BCS theory.C7: Biological PhysicsBiological materials and structures: cells, DNA and RNA, proteins,lipid bilayers. Protein structure and folding. Mechanicalproperties of biopolymers.Brownian motion, chemical reactions, biological processes andbio-energetics, molecular machines.Chromosomes, DNA compaction and packaging. Transcriptionand transcriptional regulation. Biological networks.Membranes and membrane proteins: electrostatic interactions,dispersion and hydration forces. Ions and counterions; ion channels,photo-receptors and neuroreceptors. Neurons and neuronalsignalling.Single-molecule techniques, patch-clamp, fluorescence microscopy,optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, atomic force microscopy.49
Page 4: Contents ContinuedFourth Year 2012-
Page 10: Students are encouraged take their
Page 14 and 15: Summary of Examination Requirements
Page 16 and 17: Lecture timetableswww.physics.ox.ac
Page 18 and 19: Second Year 2012-2013Introduction t
Page 20 and 21: Second Year Outline of TopicsFor de
Page 22 and 23: Undergraduate Physics ConferenceThi
Page 24 and 25: y their performance in Parts A and
Page 26 and 27: Fourth Year 2012-2013 [MPhys Course
Page 28 and 29: Fourth Year Outline of TopicsLectur
Page 30 and 31: Short OptionsShort Options are inte
Page 32 and 33: Teaching and Learning Physics in Sc
Page 34 and 35: First YearCP1: Physics 1Classical M
Page 36 and 37: B2: III. Quantum, Atomic and Molecu
Page 38 and 39: Appendix BFOR PHYSICS AND PHYSICS a
Page 40 and 41: OpticsElementary geometrical optics
Page 42 and 43: Statistical mechanicsBoltzmann fact
Page 44 and 45: Appendix EFOR THIRD YEAR STUDENTSFi
Page 46 and 47: B3: V. General Relativity and Cosmo
Page 48 and 49: S16: Plasma PhysicsDebye Length. Pl
Page 52 and 53: Appendix HEXAMINATION REGULATIONSSP
Page 54 and 55: 7. In cl. 4(a)(ii), practical work
Page 56 and 57: Appendix KPhotocopying and scanning
Page 58 and 59: Appendix L (Lecture and Practical F
Page 60 and 61: Appendix MAcademic Staff Telephone

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