LECTURES, CLASSES AND TUTORIALS
Alexander Schekochihin
Lectures: ODEs (1st year), Kinetic Theory (MMathPhys)
Tutorials: Papers CP3 (1st year), A1 (2nd year)
Michaelmas Term 2020
| NOTES: Your classes will mostly be on Fridays and the corresponding problem sheets will be due on Sunday night following the class (except if indicated otherwise below), with follow-up tutes the week after. I suggest that you 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. Georgia Acton will be helping me with the marking this year. Georgia 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 Georgia also serves as a graduate mentor and you are encouraged to seek appointments with her (although it is not guaranteed that she will have time for you) if after the tutes you are still having difficulties with the material. There are other graduate mentors availbale: listed here. CP3: Half of the classes and tutorials will be given by Prof Christopher Ramsey. 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:
Problem
Sheets for MT-20 (this may receive
some updates as we go along; current version is 4.12.20)
CP3: Andre Lukas's Problem Sets for V&M (this was the MT-17 version; John Magorrian is using the same problem sets and so shall we)
CP3: My Lecture Notes and Problem Sets on ODEs (updated in real time, check back!)
Pre-2013 Merton Maths questions (the V&M questions can be used for revision; others are mostly the same as in the new sheets)
My Lecture Notes on Dimensional Analysis (2011)
Richard Fern's typed, improved version of these notes (2015)
A1: My Lecture Notes on Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics for 2nd year (last updated 2020; still in use by Michael Barnes in his course)
If you would like to try your hand at more advanced material (or just extra material), the following two books apparently 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):
CP3: Andre Lukas's Problem Sets for V&M (this was the MT-17 version; John Magorrian is using the same problem sets and so shall we)
CP3: My Lecture Notes and Problem Sets on ODEs (updated in real time, check back!)
Pre-2013 Merton Maths questions (the V&M questions can be used for revision; others are mostly the same as in the new sheets)
My Lecture Notes on Dimensional Analysis (2011)
Richard Fern's typed, improved version of these notes (2015)
A1: My Lecture Notes on Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics for 2nd year (last updated 2020; still in use by Michael Barnes in his course)
If you would like to try your hand at more advanced material (or just extra material), the following two books apparently 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) --- Chapters 1-3 are relevant to this term's course
- R. Kubo, Statistical Mechanics: An Advanced Course with Problems and Solutions (N. Holland 1965) --- this is mostly HT-21 material, but Kinetic Theory is in Chapter 6
If any of the 2nd years are sufficiently fascinated by Kinetic Theory
to want to study ahead, and at a higher level, you are welcome to tune
in to the MMathPhys Kinetic Theory course,
which will be ZOOM'ed this term (ask me for the link if you want to do
that). It is a 4th-year course, but the only "advanced" maths it uses
is Laplace and Fourier transforms, so if you have done SO1 you should
be fine (although the pace might be quite brisk and you might encounter
some allusions to as yet unfamiliar physics material, so if it proves
inaccessible, just dtop it).
| Week |
Date |
Time |
Place |
Year |
Class/Tute |
Notes |
| I |
Mon 12 Oct |
17:00-19:00 | ZOOM |
1 |
Class-0 |
Dimensional
Analysis |
| Wed 14 Oct |
17:30-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 | 1 |
Tute-1: Nick Maslov, Sam Moore, & Agnieszka Wierzchucka | Vacation
Work or
any other questions; also have the Dimensional Analysis homework ready with you Vacation Work is due immediately upon your arrival in week 0 |
|
| Thu 15 Oct |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Louis Kemp & Camilo Mosquera | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Theo Iosif & Mihai Vasile | |||
| II |
Fri 23 Oct |
11:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Class-1 |
MT-2 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) Differentiation & integration Gaussian integrals Language of vector spaces Einstein notation NB: read sec 1, 2.1 and 2.2 from A. Lukas's notes! |
| III |
Tue 27 Oct |
16:30-18:00 |
ZOOM |
MMPhys |
Kinetic
Theory Lecture 1+ |
|
| Wed 28 Oct |
17:30-19:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-2: Nick Maslov, Sam Moore, & Agnieszka Wierzchucka | MT-2 due
Sun 25 Oct at 23:59 to Dropbox |
|
| Thu 29 Oct |
17:00-18:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-2: Louis Kemp & Camilo Mosquera | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-2: Theo Iosif & Mihai Vasile | |||
| Fri 30 Oct |
11:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Class-2 |
MT-3 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) Curves, line integrals Series, expansions, limits Vector geometry Matrices & linear maps NB: read sec 2.3 and 3 from A. Lukas's notes! [Tutorials on this material will be held by Prof Ramsey] |
|
| IV |
Mon 2 Nov |
10:00-11:30 |
ZOOM |
MMPhys |
Kinetic
Theory Lecture 2+ |
|
| 16:30-18:00 |
ZOOM | MMPhys |
Kinetic
Theory Lecture 3+ |
|||
| Tue 3 Nov |
12:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory Lecture 4 |
||
| 16:30-18:00 |
ZOOM |
MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory Lecture 5+ |
|||
| Fri 6 Nov |
17:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-1 | Intro to thermodynamics Please read through your lecture notes before class: do you understand the construction of thermodynamics? Some good reads: Kardar, Ford, and Tong (see links in my lecture notes) |
|
| V |
Mon 9 Nov |
16:30-18:00 |
ZOOM | MMPhys |
Kinetic
Theory Lecture 6+ |
|
| Tue 10 Nov |
12:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODE Lecture 1 |
||
| Wed 11 Nov |
11:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODE Lectures 2-3 |
||
| Fri
13 Nov |
17:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
2 |
Stat
Phys Class-2 |
Thermodynamics cont'd (entropy
etc) Problem Set 1 due Sun 8 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox Look at Problem Set 2 before class |
|
| VI |
Mon 16 Nov |
11:00-12:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 4 |
|
| 16:30-18:00 |
ZOOM | MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory Lecture 7+ |
|||
| Tue 17 Nov |
11:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODEs Lectures 5-6 |
||
| Wed 18 Nov |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-1: Andrei Cristea & William Isotta |
Problem
Set 2 due Sun 15 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox In tute, we'll discuss PS-1,2 + any conceptual issues you care to raise |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-1: Rishin Madan & Benedict Yorston |
|||
| Thu 19 Nov |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-1: Alex Christie & Megan Evans |
||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-1: Andrei Eftime & Jeremi Litarowitz |
|||
| Fri 20 Nov |
11:00-13:00 | ZOOM |
1 |
Class-3 |
MT-6 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) 1st-order ODEs (advanced) Scalar products 2nd-order ODEs |
|
| VII |
Mon 23 Nov | 11:00-12:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 7 |
|
| 17:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-3 | Intro to kinetics; effusion Kinetics of Brownian particles Try Problem Set 3 before class! |
||
| Tue 24 Nov |
11:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODEs Lectures 8-9 |
||
| Wed 25 Nov |
17:15-17:45 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-3: Mihai Vasile |
MT-6 due
Sun 22 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Nick Maslov & Sam Moore |
|||
| Thu 26 Nov | 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Theo Iosif & Agi Wierzchucka | ||
| Fri 27 Nov |
11:00-13:00 | ZOOM |
1 |
Class-4 | MT-7 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) 2nd-order ODEs: inhomogeneous Quasipolynomials Systems of ODEs Rapidly oscillating force |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Louis Kemp & Camilo Mosquera | |||
| VIII |
Mon 30 Nov |
11:00-12:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 10 |
|
| 17:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
2 |
Stat Phys Class-4 | Collisions and transport Look at Problem Set 4 before class! |
||
| Tue 1 Dec |
11:00-12:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 11 (Q&A) |
||
| 17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Tute-2: Andrei Eftime & Jeremi Litarowitz | Problem
Set 3
due Sat 28 Nov
23:59 to Dropbox questions on Problem Set 4 (vac work) also welcome |
||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Tute-2: Rishin Madan & Megan Evans | |||
| Wed 2 Dec |
17:30-18:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-4: Mihai Vasile |
MT-7 due
Sun 29 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Nick Maslov & Sam Moore | |||
| Thu 3 Dec |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Louis Kemp & Camilo Mosquera | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Theo Iosif & Agi Wierzchucka | |||
| Fri 4 Dec |
11:00-13:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Class-5 |
MT-8 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) Systems of linear ODEs |
|
| 17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-2: Alex Christie & Benedict Yorston | Problem
Set 3
due Sat 28 Nov
23:59 to Dropbox questions on Problem Set 4 (vac work) also welcome |
||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-2: Andrei Cristea & William Isotta | |||
| 1 |
Vacation work: MT-8 |
Tute in HT-2021 |
||||
| 2 |
Vacation
work: Problem Set 4 |
Tute in HT-2021 |
