Level 4

Weekly Problems Instructions for Students 2014/15

For the purposes of weekly problems, the modules PHYS4221 Advanced Physics 4, PHYS4231
Planets and Cosmology 4, PHYS4241 Theoretical Physics 4, PHYS4251 Foundations of Physics 4A
and PHYS4261 Foundations of Physics 4B are treated as part of the Level 3 system. The following
instructions apply to the remaining Level 4 lecture modules.
You are required to do homework problems set on the content of the lecture courses you are taking.
This work is assessed and the marks count towards your overall mark for the relevant modules. The
schedule for the individual lecture course components within the modules is detailed overleaf. The
questions are of the usual paper-based type and are marked by postgraduate students, following
marking schemes decided by the lecturers. The weekly problems will normally relate to the content
of the recent lectures but may sometimes rely on material not explicitly covered in lectures.
The problems will be made available week-by-week electronically in pdf via the Physics Weekly
Problems system at https://teaching.physics.dur.ac.uk/ this system can also be reached via the
Assignments section of the individual courses in duo. It is your own responsibility to download the
questions they will not routinely be issued on paper and you should not assume that individual
lecturers will remind you during their lectures. Each problem will normally be made available one
week before the submission deadline. The solutions are due by 2.00 p.m. on the following Friday.
No marks are awarded for late work. If there is a good reason, such as illness, why you will not be
able to submit in a particular week then you must arrange for a self-certification form to be forwarded
to the Department by your College.
For all paper-based problems it is very important that you start each answer on a separate sheet
and mark each answer with your name and the question code (e.g. QO.1). Please use A4 paper
and staple together the sheets for a given question (do not simply fold the corners of the sheets or
use paper clips since this can cause scripts to get mixed up). Post each question separately in the
post box of the green problems station.
Shortly after each submission deadline, the model solutions will be made available online, via the
Physics Weekly Problems system, and you should consult these to resolve points of misunderstanding.
The marked scripts may be collected from the trays (sorted alphabetically by surname) at the
problems station one week after submission. You should keep your marked work, in case of queries
later: if you throw it away, or lose it, then the Department will not be able to take responsibility if there is
a query.

Weekly Problems Schedule 2014-15

Level 4
Publication
date
(Friday
14:00)

Students'
Module
submission
deadline
Week
(Friday
PHYS4121 PHYS4141 PHYS4151 PHYS4161 PHYS4181 PHYS4201
14:00)
ALQ
AdvThPh AdvCMP
AdvAst
PartTh
ThAst

24-Oct
31-Oct
07-Nov
14-Nov
21-Nov
28-Nov
05-Dec

31-Oct
07-Nov
14-Nov
21-Nov
28-Nov
05-Dec
16-Jan

16-Jan
23-Jan
30-Jan
06-Feb
13-Feb
20-Feb

23-Jan
30-Jan
06-Feb
13-Feb
20-Feb
27-Feb
06-Mar
13-Mar

27-Feb

Lasers.1
Lasers.2
Lasers.3
Lasers.4
Lasers.5
Lasers.6

QIC.1
QIC.2
QIC.3
QIC.4
QIC.5
QIC.6

QO.1
QO.2
QO.3
QO.4
QO.5
QO.6

QTC.1
QTC.2
QTC.3
QTC.4
QTC.5

LDS.1
LDS.2
LDS.3
LDS.4
BP.1
BP.2
BP.3
BP.4

RPA.1
RPA.2
RPA.3
RPA.4
RPA.5
RPA.6

RQM.1
RQM.2
RQM.3
RQM.4
GFT.1
GFT.2
GFT.3
GFT.4

ATAI.1
ATAI.2
OD.1
ATAI.3
Phen.1
OD.2
ATAI.4
Phen.2
OD.3
ATAI.5
Phen.3
PROJECT SEMINARS ALL WEEK
QTC.6
OD.4
ATAI.6
Phen.4

CSF.1
CSF.2
CSF.3
CSF.4
CSF.5
CSF.6

GR.1
GR.2
GR.3
GR.4
GR.5
GR.6

4
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

Please use the labels above (e.g. BP.1 and BP.2 for the first two Biological Physics
problems), so that problems and solutions can be clearly identified.

Key:

Note:

Course
ATAI
BP
CSF
GFT
GR
LDS
Lasers
OD
Phen
QO
QIC
QTC
RPA
RQM

Astronomical Techniques and Adv Imaging

Biological Physics
Cosmic Structure Formation
Gauge Field Theories
General Relativity
Low Dimensional Solids
Laser Physics
Optical Devices
Phenomenology
Quantum Optics
Quantum Information and Computing
Quantum Theory in Condensed Matter
Radiative Processes in Astrophysics
Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

Lecturer
Wilson
Bromley
Lacey
Zambon
Done
Hunt
Cornish
Dias
Spannowsky
Jones
Hughes
Gardiner
Edge
Pecjak

The Department reserves the right to make changes to the above

schedule at short notice, as circumstances dictate.