Symmetry and Relativity (3rd year)
- Lecture plan
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Lecture notes.
These notes cover some areas very fully, others not at all. The material omitted is either not needed for this course or is simple and well-covered elsewhere (e.g. in
the lecture!).
The Section C notes are much more extensive than is needed for the course, but are included because this material is harder to find in textbooks. The lectures will clarify how much of this is needed for Oxford 3rd yr physics.
Contents and Introduction, Section A, Section B, Section C: Spinors, Classical fieldsChanges in 2011/12. There are modest changes in the problem set, an improved discussion of headlight effect (3.7.2) and constant acceleration (4.2.1), a comment on group velocity (5.4.3), a clarification of wave equation solution (6.5.2), and various other minor corrections.
Lecture summaries: Summary section A, Summary section B, Summary section C - Problems
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Books. The course assumes some basic knowledge of relativity. Introductory books such as
Taylor and Wheeler, French, W.S.C Williams, Steane (see below)
are all recommended. Books closer to this course include those by Rindler, Jackson (classical electrodynamics), Muirhead.
My own introductory book is called "The Wonderful World of Relativity" (pub OUP). It is intended to give a thorough and precise grasp of spacetime, while being as easy to read as possible.
Atomic Physics
- Lecture notes
- Problems
- Example finals questions in large format (for revision lecture): 1
- Answers to Oxford physics finals questions: 1 (large format), 2 (small format),
- Answers to Oxford physics finals questions, selected questions appropriate to new syllabus: 1 (large format), 2 (small format),
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