PHS3142 - Theoretical physics II
6 points, SCA Band 0 (NATIONAL PRIORITY), 0.125 EFTSL
Undergraduate Faculty of Science
Leader: Associate Professor Andrei Nikulin
Offered
Clayton Second semester 2009 (Day)
Synopsis
This unit provides part of a major in theoretical physics. It consists of two 12-lecture sub-units, Advanced Quantum Mechanics and Computational Physics, and a 12-hour seminar sub-unit. The key areas of study are:
- Advanced Quantum Mechanics: perturbation theory and its application to atomic systems and radiation from quantised systems;
- Computational Physics: Numerical solution to ODEs and PDEs with applications in optics, quantum mechanics and electromagnetism; signal and image processing; visualisation and stochastic methods; and
- Theoretical Seminar: seminar participation in theoretical problems, projects and presentations.
Objectives
On completion of this unit students will be able to understand a range of fundamental concepts in advanced quantum mechanics, including perturbation theory. They will have a working knowledge of computational physics and be able to write programs (in Matlab) to model, simulate and visualise physical processes. They will then be able to extend mastery of these techniques to related subject areas of particular interest to the student. The students will be able to write short reports on significant current theoretical physics research topics and present a short seminar and a poster on one of these topics in theoretical physics.
Assessment
Examinations (1 x 1.5 hours): 25%
tests (3 x 1/2 hour): 15%
assignments & project: 26%
seminar contributions: 34%
Contact hours
An average of 2 hours lectures, one 1-hour tutorial and one 1-hour seminar per week