LECTURES, CLASSES AND TUTORIALS
Alexander Schekochihin
Lectures: ODEs (1st year), Kinetic Theory (MMathPhys)
Tutorials: Papers CP3 (1st year), A1 (2nd year)
Michaelmas Term 2021
| 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 of CP3 this year and Minghao Li with A1. Georgia, Minghao 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 and Minghao 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. 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-21 (this may be
updated in real time; current version is 2.09.21)
CP3: Andre Lukas's Problem Sets for V&M (this is 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 2021; 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 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 is 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 2021; 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 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 attend the MMathPhys
Kinetic Theory course. It is a 4th-year course, but
the only "advanced" maths it uses is Laplace and Fourier
transforms, so if you have done SO-1 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 drop it).
| Week |
Date |
Time |
Place |
Year |
Class/Tute |
Notes |
| I |
Mon 11 Oct |
17:00-19:00 | Hawkins |
1 |
Class-0 |
Dimensional Analysis |
| Wed 13 Oct |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 | 1 |
Tute-1: Lilin Liu &
Sumayya Siddiqui |
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 |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Euan Dyer & Safwan
Elhaj-Houssen |
|||
| Thu 14 Oct |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Joe Bell &
Barnaby Colvin |
||
| Fri 15 Oct |
18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Param Luhadiya & Jonny Rugg | ||
| II |
Mon 18 Oct |
12:00-13:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODE Lecture 1 |
|
| Tue 19 Oct |
12:00-13:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODE Lecture 2 |
||
| Wed 20 Oct |
12:00-13:00 |
Lindemann |
1 |
ODE Lecture 3 |
||
| Fri 22 Oct |
11:00-13:00 |
Hawkins | 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 |
Mon 25 Oct |
10:00-11:30 |
Lindemann |
MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory
Lecture 1+ |
|
| Tue 26 Oct |
12:00-13:30 |
Lindemann |
MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory Lecture 2+ |
||
| Wed 27 Oct |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Param Luhadiya & Jonny Rugg | MT-2 due Sun
24 Oct at 23:59 to Dropbox |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Lilin Liu & Safwan Elhaj-Houssen | |||
| Thu 28 Oct |
16:30-17:30 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Joe Bell & Barnaby Colvin | ||
| Sat
30 Oct |
11:00-12:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Euan Dyer & Sumayya Siddiqui | ||
| Fri 29 Oct |
11:00-13:00 |
Hawkins | 1 |
Class-2 |
MT-3 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) Curves, line integrals Vector geometry NB: read sec 2.3 from A. Lukas's notes! 1st-order ODEs [Tutorials on this material will be held by Prof Ramsey] |
|
| 16:00-18:00 |
Lindemann |
MMPhys | Kinetic Theory Lectures 4-5 |
|||
| IV |
Mon 1 Nov |
10:00-11:30 |
Lindemann |
MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory Lecture 6+ |
|
| Tue 2 Nov |
12:00-13:30 |
Lindemann |
MMPhys |
Kinetic Theory
Lecture 7+ |
||
| Thu 4 Nov |
17:00-19:00 |
Hawkins | 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) |
|
| VI |
Mon 15 Nov |
11:00-12:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 4 |
|
| Tue 16 Nov |
10:00-12:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODEs Lectures 5-6 |
||
| Thu 18 Nov |
17:00-19:00 |
Hawkins | 2 |
Stat Phys Class-2 | Thermodynamics cont'd (entropy etc) Problem Set 1 due Sun 14 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox Look at Problem Set 2 before class |
|
| Fri 19 Nov |
11:00-13:00 | Hawkins | 1 |
Class-3 |
MT-6 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) 1st-order ODEs (advanced) Scalar products, rotation, orthogonal bases 2nd-order ODEs |
|
| 16:00-18:00 |
Lindemann |
MMPhys | Kinetic Theory Lectures 9-10 | |||
| Sat 20 Nov |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute+: Sumayyah Siddiqui |
||
| VII |
Mon 22 Nov | 11:00-12:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 7 |
|
| 17:00-19:00 |
Hawkins | 2 |
Stat Phys Class-3 | Intro to kinetics;
effusion Kinetics of Brownian particles Try Problem Set 3 before class! |
||
| Tue 23 Nov |
10:00-12:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODEs Lectures 8-9 |
||
| Sat
27 Nov |
11:00-12:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Param Luhadiya & Jonny Rugg | MT-6
due Sun 21 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox |
|
| Wed 24 Nov |
18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Euan Dyer & Safwan Elhaj-Houssen | ||
| Thu 25 Nov |
17:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Barnaby Colvin & Sumayya Siddiqui | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Joe Bell & Lilin Liu | |||
| Fri 26 Nov |
11:00-13:00 | Hawkins | 1 |
Class-4 | MT-7 (look at it it before class, prepare questions) 2nd-order ODEs: inhomogeneous Quasipolynomials Systems of ODEs Rapidly oscillating force |
|
| 17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Tute-1: Theo Iosif & Mihai Vasile | Problem Set 2 due
Sun 21 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: Nick Maslov & Agi Wierzchucka | |||
| VIII |
Mon 29 Nov |
10:00-12:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 10-11 |
|
| Tue 30 Nov |
11:00-12:00 |
M. Wood |
1 |
ODEs Lecture 12 |
||
| 17:00-19:00 |
Hawkins | 1 |
Stat Phys Class-4 | Collisions and transport Look at Problem Set 4 before class! |
||
| Wed 1 Dec |
17:00-18:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Param Luhadiya & Jonny Rugg | MT-7
due Sun 28 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox |
|
| 18:00-19:00 |
Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Euan Dyer & Safwan Elhaj-Houssen | |||
| Thu 2 Dec |
17:00-18:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-4: Joe Bell & Barnaby Colvin | ||
| 18:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
1 |
Tute-4: Lilin Liu & Sumayya Siddiqui | |||
| Fri 3 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 |
ZOOM |
2 |
Tute-2: Nick Maslov & Mihai Vasile | Problem
Set
3 due Sun 28 Nov 23:59 to Dropbox questions on Problem Set 4 (vac work) also welcome |
||
| 18:00-19:00 |
ZOOM |
2 |
Tute-2: Theo Iosif & Agi Wierzchucka | |||
| 1 |
Vacation work: MT-8 |
Tute in HT-2022 |
||||
| 2 |
Vacation
work:
Problem Set 4 |
Tute in HT-2022 |