This is the fourth module of an interdisciplinary program covering nature at different scales from ‘Atoms to Molecules, ‘The Cells’, ‘The Earth’ and ‘The Universe’. This module traces the developments in theoretical and observational cosmology, starting from Newtonian cosmology, Hubble’s observations, the Big Bang, formation of stars and black holes to recent ideas in the origin and fate of the Universe.
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This is the third module in a series of four covering scales from ‘Atoms to Molecules’, through ‘The Cell’ and ‘The Earth’ to ‘The Universe’. This module focuses on the physical, chemical and biological processes that have shaped the development of the Earth. The module takes a systems approach in order to understand the interconnectivity between the various components of the Earth system, i.e. the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Using this approach, students will study the impact that anthropogenic activities, such as burning fossil fuels, has had on the Earth system.
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This is the second module of an interdisciplinary program covering nature at different scales from “Atoms to Molecules”, “The Cell”, “The Earth” and “The Universe”. Using simple bacteria as the model organism, key chemical and physical principles underlying several biological processes which cells can integrate and function as an autonomous machine in order to regenerate (selfreplicate), repair and re-program (differentiate), respond (energy harness and utilization) and re-model (community formation) will be explored. These processes will be examined at single molecule, single cell to multi-cellular levels under their general ability to store, decode and process information (“Information”), to self-assemble, migrate (“Dynamics”) and to harness and utilise energy (“Energy”).
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SP1541 is the continuation of ES1103 for science students that are also a requirement to graduate for FoS Students. This module focuses on how to “communicate” science, i.e. how to tell the results of our research to the general public so they can appreciate the finding, although they do not have a deep knowledge on that field. We also learned how to do an oral presentation of a scientific research.
Every lecture, the instructor will go through a topic, explain the usage / formula and gives illustrative examples for these. The lecture expects high participations from the students, with the lecturer actively asking students their opinions about the topic. Because of this, a focus is needed to keep track in the lecture and net participation points.
There are various types of writing assignments in the module. The Book Chapter Review assignment is about reviewing a book chapter where we are asked to identify how the author delivers “science” and asks for our opinion (~250 words). The news article(s) is about writing a popular science article based on a recent research using techniques discussed in class so that non-specialist can understand the research paper (~800-1000 words). The reflection is more like “free” style, with writing a small piece about the module. These are pretty tiresome, so please finish them ASAP and to score well, adhere to the moves described.
Finally, the oral presentation consists of making a recorded powerpoint presentation about one of the mentioned news article using guidelines explained in the lecture. After the presentation, there will be a small QnA session for everyone to ask questions. To score, prep the video well, anticipate questions and be active asking questions.
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The module aims to understand Lagrangian mechanics, Hamiltonian mechanics, and basic ideas of nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Topics discussed are: variational principle and Lagrangian mechanics, Hamiltonian mechanics, the Hamiltonian formulation of relativistic mechanics, symplectic approach to canonical transformation, Poisson brackets and other canonical invariants, Liouville theorem, the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, Hamilton’s characteristic function, action-angle variables, integrable systems, transition from a discrete to continuous system, relativistic field theory, Noether’s theorem, Lie groups and group actions, Poisson manifolds, Hamiltonian vector fields, properties of the Hamiltonian fields, conservative chaos, the Poincare surface of section, KAM theorem, Poincare-Birkhoff theorem, Lyapunov exponents, global chaos, effects of double dissipation and fractals.
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This module aims to give graduate students additional training in the foundations of solid state physics and is intended to prepare them for research work and other graduate coursework modules. Topics to be covered include: translational symmetry and Bloch’s theorem, rotational symmetry and group representation, electron-electron interaction and Hartree-Fock equations, APW, OPW, pseudopotential and LCAO schemes of energy band calculations, Boltzmann equation and thermoelectric phenomena, optical properties of semiconductors, insulators and metals, origin of ferromagnetism, models of Heisenberg, Stoner and Hubbard, Kondo effect. Students are expected to read from a range of recommended and reference texts, and will be given an opportunity to present their reading as part of the regular lessons
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We covered Feynman path integrals, Identical particles, Relativistic single-particle QM, and Quantum field theory (Scalar fields, Spinor fields, and EM field). Note scattering and appoximation theory are listed in the description but not really covered.
One of only three physical modules I had in the sem! I can proudly say that for once I attended very nearly every lecture. Mostly because a) the lectures are good, and b) because the lecture notes only really have an outline of the topics, and have typos here and there, so you basically *have* to be present to take physical notes. Almost all the derivations are done on the board, line by line, so you don’t miss out on your understanding.
We had two term tests and a finals, along with weekly homework. The homework is only one, usually straightforward question. None of the tests were too difficult per se, although the exam was definitely the hardest of the lot. Practice all the tutorial questions well and you should be able to handle the assessments relatively well. The exams are designed in such a way that you learn a lot: through the exam questions I learnt about spontaneous symmetry breaking, the dirac cone, amongst other things.
MM2 really should be a pre-requisite for this module: we use quite freely contour integrations, tensors, and bits of group theory. The module also complements GR well, in that in both modules you will spend quite some time playing with indices. If you had the pleasure of taking CFT with Dr. Yeo Ye, go through as much of it as you can. In particular, the parts on rotations, Hamiltonian mechanics, and Noether’s theorem are useful. I used these notes as a reference throughout this module. It is not strictly necessary, all of this is covered again here but it’s nice to know.
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This module introduces advanced mathematical methods that are essential in many areas of theoretical physics. The topics covered are: differentiable manifolds, curved manifolds, tangent and dual spaces, calculus of differential forms, Stokes’ theorem, and applications to electromagnetic theory; symmetries of manifolds, Lie derivatives, Lie groups and algebras, their representations and physical applications. The module is targeted at students who wish to study theoretical physics.
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Starting with an introduction to the nuclear physics of stars and the processes of nucleosynthesis, following a brief introduction to nuclear physics. nucleosynthesis via quiescent burning, and the processes that lead to the production of heavy (A>60) elements are covered. The endstages (brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes) are discussed in detail. In the second part of the module, large structures in the universe, are discussed, including star clusters, galaxy structure, and galaxy clustering. The module ends with a discussion of the cosmological scale structure of the universe. This module is a continuation of PC3246 Astrophysics I.
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The module covers (in order) special relativity, tensor analysis, particle and photon geodesics, black holes, even more tensor analysis (covariant derivatives, curvature, parallel transport), and finally the field equation is derived.
If you have taken a module with Kenneth before, you know his style. There’s the lecture worksheets and the weekly (difficult!) assignments, and his two (also difficult!) midterms and a final. Thanks to covid we had no finals, fortunately. But it meant that assignments were super high weightage, and there was a lot of stress about getting these right. I further made the incredibly stupid decision of a couple of assignments to be done “later”, which meant I spent a good chunk of reading week finishing this stuff up.
The module follows quite closely Hartle’s book on general relativity. Interestingly, not even a little “real” differential geometry has to be developed to get all the way up to the field equations, and for the most part, there is still a logical flow from first principles. The only thing you really have to accept is that every curved space is locally flat (this in fact is true for any manifold: they locally look like Rn).
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