Undergraduate Course: Physical Mathematics (PHYS09015)
Course Outline
School |
School of Physics and Astronomy |
College |
College of Science and Engineering |
Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 09 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits |
10 |
Home subject area |
Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) |
Other subject area |
None |
Course website |
None |
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Course description |
An introduction to mathematical ideas and techniques for other courses in Honours years. The key idea is that of complete sets of orthonormal vectors, and its generalisation to complete sets of orthonormal functions. These functions occur in the solution (by separation of variables) of frequently-encountered partial differential equations in physics, such as Poisson's equation (in electrostatics), the wave equation and the Schrodinger equation. Some of the material will have been covered before in second-year courses; this material will be reviewed and developed, the emphasis throughout being on gaining physical insight into the mathematics. |
Course Delivery Information
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Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | 10:00 - 10:50 | | | | King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | | 10:00 - 10:50 | King's Buildings | Tutorial | | 2-11 | | 11:10 - 13:00or 14:00 - 15:50 | | | |
First Class |
First class information not currently available |
Additional information |
Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged. |
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Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
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WebCT enabled: No |
Quota: None |
Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | 10:00 - 10:50 | | | | King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | | 10:00 - 10:50 | King's Buildings | Tutorial | | 2-11 | | 11:10 - 13:00or 14:00 - 15:50 | | | |
First Class |
Week 1, Tuesday, 10:00 - 10:50, Zone: King's Buildings. JCMB |
Additional information |
Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged. |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon satisfactory completion of the course, students should be able to:
1)Relate complete sets of orthonormal vectors and complete sets of orthogonal functions
2)Sketch elementray functions such as the gaussian, the sinc, the ln, and trigonometric functions
3)State the fundamental equations of Sturm-Liouville theory and its applications to physical problems. Solve some simple Sturm-Liouville problems
4)Write down some common partial differential equations in physics, i.e. the diffusion equation, the wave equation and Poisson's equation; identify and use the coordinate system best suited to the symmetry of the problem to solve these partial differential equations in simple cases
4)Write down the expressions for the expansion of a function in a Fourier series and its generalisation to Fourier transforms; calculate Fourier series and Fourier transforms of simple functions
5)Use Fourier series and Fourier transforms to solve the diffusion and wave equations
6)Describe the concept of a Green's function
7)Acquire a degree of familiarity with the MAPLE mathematical software environment |
Assessment Information
Degree Examination, 100%
Visiting Student Variant Assessment
Degree Examination, 100% |
Please see Visiting Student Prospectus website for Visiting Student Assessment information |
Special Arrangements
Not entered |
Contacts
Course organiser |
Dr Peter Boyle
Tel: (0131 6)50 5239
Email: paboyle@ph.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mrs Linda Grieve
Tel: (0131 6)50 5254
Email: linda.grieve@ed.ac.uk |
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copyright 2010 The University of Edinburgh -
1 September 2010 6:34 am
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