CLASSES AND TUTORIALS
Alexander Schekochihin
Papers CP4 (1st year), A1 (2nd year)
Hilary Term 2025
| NOTES: Your classes will be on
Thursdays or Saturdays, the corresponding problem sheets will
be due on Sunday night following the class, with
follow-up tutes on Tuesday/Wednesday of the week
after (except if indicated
otherwise below). I advise you to attempt
the problem sheets before
the class, so we could deal with some of the arising
problems in class. If you do not do that, it may turn
out to be difficult for you to finish your homework on
time. Please turn in all your homework by placing it in your personal Dropbox folder. Radek Grabarczyk will be helping me with the marking of CP4 this year and Agi Wierzchucka with A1. Radek, Agi, and I cannot guarantee that work that is turned in late will be looked at. I will place the marked version of your work back in your Dropbox folder. Please make notes for yourselves while doing the homeworks to make sure you have a plan for what to discuss during the tutes. Note that Radek and Agi (as well as Natalie Koscelanska, who was your GTA in MT) also serve as a graduate mentors and you are encouraged to seek appointments with them (although it is not guaranteed that they will have time for you in any given week) --- if after the tutes you are still having difficulties with the material. There are other graduate mentors available, listed here. CP4: I will cover the collection and problem sets MT-VIII (vac work), HT-2, HT-4, and HT-5. Prof Christopher Ramsey will do the rest. Please arrange your schedule (and process for turning in homework) with him directly. |
 A sketch of students (or, perhaps, fellows) in a manuscript of William of Ockham's commentary on Aristotle's Physics (MS293 from the Merton College library, image courtesy of J. Walwarth). |
CP3/4: My 2021-22 Lecture Notes and Problem Sets on ODEs (incl. Normal Modes; see Chapter 7, and PS-6)
CP4: Felix Parra's 2021 Lectures and Problem Sets on Waves
CP4: On Vector Calculus, I strongly recommend Ramin Golestanian's Lecture Notes
CP4: Merton Maths Problem Sheets for HT-25 (this is the version we used last year; these may be updated later)
A1: My Lecture Notes on Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics for 2nd year
A1: Problem Sheets for HT-25 (I may post some updates later)
If you would like to try your hand at more advanced material (or just extra material), the following two books proved a great success in David Hosking's lockdown tutorials with 2nd years in TT-2020 (if you want an e-copy, drop me a line):
- R. Kubo, Thermodynamics:
An Advanced Course with Problems and Solutions (N.
Holland 1968)
- R. Kubo, Statistical
Mechanics: An Advanced Course with Problems and Solutions
(N. Holland 1965)
| Week |
Date |
Time |
Place |
Year |
Class/Tute |
Notes |
| I |
Mon 20 Jan | 17:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Class-1 | We will discuss the collection paper and any questions arising from your inter-term revision efforts. |
| Wed 22 Jan |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Seb
Maslanek & Deevam Sharma
|
MT-VIII
(vac work) +all questions from MT-VI & MT-VII that you have not previously completed due Sun 12 Jan @23:59 |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Paulius Kalinauskas & Tabitha Shearer | |||
| Thu 23 Jan |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Ethan Kelvin & Sophie Neville | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Haotian Wang & Nell Wheeler | |||
| Sat
25 Jan |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-1 | We will discuss the
collection paper and any questions arising from your inter-term revision efforts. |
|
| II |
Tue 28 Jan |
17:00 |
TS Eliot LT |
ALL |
OCCAM
LECTURE |
Prof Vijay Balasubramanian |
| Wed 29 Jan |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Elizabeth Norton & Daniel Orton | PS-4 (vac work) +all questions from PS-1, PS-2 & PS-3 that you have not previously completed (if any) due Sun 12 Jan @23:59 |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Eleanor Clark & Edwin De Nicolo | |||
| Thu 30 Jan |
18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Romee Tiffou & Noah Yudkin | ||
| Fri 31 Jan |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Class-2 |
HT-2 (try it before
class, prepare questions) 3D multiple, line and surface integrals Normal modes Lagrangian & Hamiltonian mechanics Rigid rotation |
|
| III |
Wed 5 Feb |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Seb Maslanek & Deevam
Sharma |
HT-2 due Sun 2 Feb @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Paulius Kalinauskas & Tabitha Shearer | |||
| Thu 6 Feb |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Ethan Kelvin & Sophie Neville | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Haotian Wang & Nell Wheeler | |||
| Fri 7 Feb |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-2 | PS-5 (try it before class, prepare
questions) Fundamentals of Stat Mech; stat mech of the ideal gas |
|
| IV |
Wed 12 Feb |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Elizabeth Norton & Daniel Orton | PS-5 due Sun 9 Feb @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Eleanor Clark & Edwin De Nicolo | |||
| Thu 13 Feb |
18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Romee Tiffou & Noah Yudkin | ||
| Fri 14 Feb |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Class-3 |
HT-4 (try it before
class, prepare questions) Vector calculus: differentiation in index notation Gauss and Stokes Theorems Wave equation: d'Alembert's solution Limit cycles |
|
| V |
Wed 19 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Seb Maslanek & Deevam
Sharma |
HT-4 due Sun 16 Feb @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Paulius Kalinauskas & Tabitha Shearer | |||
| Thu 20 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 | 1 |
Tute-3: Ethan Kelvin & Sophie Neville | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3:
Haotian Wang
& Nell Wheeler |
|||
| Fri 21 Feb |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-3 |
PS-6 (try it before
class, prepare questions) Applications of Stat Mech; open systems |
|
| Sat 22 Feb |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Class-4 |
HT-5 (try it before class, prepare
questions) Vector calculus: integrals Wave equation: energetics, solution via Fourier series Vector calculus & waves in EM and hydrodynamics |
|
| VI |
Tue 25 Feb |
18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-3: Elizabeth Norton & Daniel Orton | PS-6 due Sun 23 Feb @23:59 |
| Sun 2 Mar | 17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-3: Eleanor Clark & Edwin De Nicolo | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-3: Romee Tiffou & Noah Yudkin | |||
| VII |
Wed 5 Mar |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4:
Seb Maslanek & Deevam
Sharma |
HT-5
due Sun 2 Mar @23:59 (this problem set is quite difficult and may require independent study; you have two weeks to do it, don't leave it until the last weekend!) |
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Paulius Kalinauskas & Tabitha Shearer | |||
| Thu 6 Mar |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Ethan Kelvin & Sophie Neville | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Haotian Wang & Nell Wheeler | |||
| Fri 7 Mar |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-4 | PS-7 (this problem set is long and difficult, do not leave it until the last weekend: start working on it in week VI and bring questions to this class) Quantum gases |
|
| VIII |
Wed 12 Mar |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Elizabeth Norton & Daniel Orton | PS-7
due Sun 9 Mar @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Eleanor Clark & Edwin De Nicolo | |||
| Thu 13 Mar |
18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Romee Tiffou & Noah Yudkin | ||
| Fri 14 Mar |
17:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-5 |
PS-8 (try
it before class, prepare questions) Real gases, phase transitions, revision of Stat Mech |
|
| 1 |
Vacation work: HT-7 |
Tute in TT-2025 |
||||
| 2 |
Vacation work:
PS-8 |
Tute in TT-2025 |