CLASSES AND TUTORIALS
Alexander Schekochihin
Papers CP4 (1st year), A1 (2nd year)
Hilary Term 2026
| NOTES: Your classes will be on
Fridays, the corresponding problem sheets will be due on Sunday
night following the class, with follow-up tutes
on Wednesday/Thursday 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. Rocky Yu will be helping me with the marking of CP4 this year and Aikya Banerjee with A1. Rocky, Aikya, and I cannot guarantee that work that is turned in late will be looked at. I will place the annotated 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 Rocky and Aikya 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 also 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 19 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 21 Jan |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Uygar Arabul & Kazu Miura | MT-VIII
(vac work) +all questions from MT sets that you have not previously completed due Sun 11 Jan @23:59 |
|
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Ellie Gowers & Christine Kurinnyy | |||
| Thu 22 Jan |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Otto Levenson & Michael Tang | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-1: Toby Sanders & Aidan Tang | |||
| Sat
24 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 |
Wed 28 Jan |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Ethan Kelvin & Seb Maslanek | PS-4 (vac work) +all questions from PS-1, PS-2 & PS-3 that you have not previously completed (if any) due Sun 11 Jan @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Paulius Kalinauskas & Haotian Wang | |||
| Thu 29 Jan |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Sophie Neville & Tabitha Shearer | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-1: Deevam Sharma & Nell Wheeler | |||
| Fri 30 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 4 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Uygar Arabul & Kazu Miura | HT-2 due Sun 1 Feb @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2:
Ellie Gowers &
Christine Kurinnyy |
|||
| Thu 5 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Otto Levenson & Michael Tang | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-2: Toby Sanders & Aidan Tang | |||
| Fri 6 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 |
Tue 10 Feb |
17:00 |
TS Eliot LT |
ALL |
OCCAM LECTURE | Prof Mireia Crispin-Ortuzar |
| Wed 11 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Ethan Kelvin & Seb Maslanek | PS-5 due Sun 8 Feb @23:59 | |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Paulius Kalinauskas & Haotian Wang | |||
| Thu 12 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Sophie Neville & Tabitha Shearer | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-2: Deevam Sharma & Nell Wheeler | |||
| Fri 13 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 18 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Uygar Arabul & Kazu Miura | HT-4 due Sun 15 Feb @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Ellie Gowers &
Christine Kurinnyy |
|||
| Thu 19 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 | 1 |
Tute-3: Otto Levenson & Michael Tang | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-3: Toby Sanders & Aidan Tang | |||
| Fri 20 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 21 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 24 Feb |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tute-3: Ethan Kelvin & Seb Maslanek | PS-6 due Sun 22 Feb @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-3: Paulius Kalinauskas & Haotian Wang | |||
| Sun 1 Mar | 17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-3: Sophie Neville & Tabitha Shearer | ||
| |
18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-3: Deevam Sharma & Nell Wheeler | ||
| VII |
Wed 4 Mar |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Uygar Arabul & Kazu Miura | HT-5
due Sun 1 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: Ellie Gowers & Christine Kurinnyy | |||
| Thu 5 Mar |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Otto Levenson & Michael Tang | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
1 |
Tute-4: Toby Sanders & Aidan Tang | |||
| Fri 6 Mar |
17:00-19:00 | 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 11 Mar |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Ethan Kelvin & Seb Maslanek | PS-7 due Sun 8 Mar @23:59 |
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Paulius Kalinauskas & Haotian Wang | |||
| Thu 12 Mar |
17:00-18:00 | Grove 1.8 | 2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Sophie Neville & Tabitha Shearer | ||
| 18:00-19:00 | Grove 1.8 |
2 |
Stat Phys Tutes-4: Deevam Sharma & Nell Wheeler | |||
| Fri 1 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-2026 |
||||
| 2 |
Vacation work:
PS-8 |
Tute in TT-2026 |