Links for NST IB Physics A/B ‘Mathematical Methods’ 2026
Handouts |
Corrections |
Additions |
Resources |
Books/Formula Handbook
16 lectures, Michaelmas term, Friday and Monday, 10:00am.
Note: these lectures are in different rooms on
different days.
- The Friday lectures are in Pheonix Teaching Room 1
in the Phoenix Building, New Museums Site (see
map).
- The Monday lectures are in McCrum Lecture Theatre,
Corpus Christi College (see
map, enter via Eagle pub archway on Bene't Street).
The handouts and problem sheets for this course are
available from the course
page on the Cavendish Teaching Information System
(TiS) website, for registered users. (Spare copies will be put in
the filing cabinet in the corridor outside the IA/IB Practical
Laboratories.)
I will list here any corrections to the handouts and problem sheet.
- Handout I, p2/3: a sketch to
illustrate why for the Fourier series of a square wave the amplitudes
of even values $n$ are zero (in this case for $n=2$).
- Handout I, p16: explanation of a 1-D diffusion
equation (in terms of temperature/heat) (cf. 2.42).
- Handout I, p18: a justification
for equation 2.58.
- Handout I, p19: Fourier transform of cosine (and sine), to show symmetries
between $f(t)$ and $F(\omega)$.
- Handout I, p20/21, Section 2.8: Fourier transforms of
multiple $\delta$ functions.
- Convolution: a webpage
that illustrates the convolution of two functions with an animation,
which has a choice of various functions. Note, you can interactively
change the width of the functions before starting the convolution
animation by click on the dot in the plot of a function, and drag to
change.
There are many books that cover the material in this course,
including the following.
The ‘Mathematical Formula Handbook’ –
which is provided
in NST Physics examinations – is available
here (version 2.6), or on the
Cavendish Undergraduate
Intranet website.
Also you can purchase a copy for £1.50 in the Part IA/IB practical laboratory.
Dave Green –
(last changed 2026 October 19th)
