Theoretical Physics (F3217)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll get an introduction to common methods of theoretical physics. You’ll focus on classical mechanics while including relativity and some electrodynamics, including covariant formulation. You’ll be introduced to and apply mathematical concepts such as:

  • Lagrangians
  • least-action principle
  • four-vectors
  • tensors.

Teaching

75%: Lecture
25%: Practical (Workshop)

Assessment

20%: Coursework (Problem set)
80%: Examination (Unseen examination)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 44 hours of contact time and about 106 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.