Syllabus

Syllabus for the qualifying exam:

You can expect questions about any material covered in an introductory physics text. You can expect questions on advanced undergraduate physics concerning the topics listed below.

CLASSICAL MECHANICS

	Newton’s Second Law of Motion
	Some Commonly Encountered Forces
	Impulsive Forces
	Conservation of Linear Momentum, Angular Momentum and Mechanical Energy
	Collisions Between Particles
	Problems in which the Motion is Specified and the Forces must be Determined
	Use of Non-inertial Reference Frames
	Principal Axes
	Lagrange’s and Hamilton’s Equations for a Conservative System
	Normal Mode Analysis of Small Oscillations about Equilibrium
	Motion of a Particle in a Central Potential
	Motion of a Particle in a 1/r Potential
	Relative and Center-of-Mass Coordinates
	Mechanical Waves

SPECIAL RELATIVITY

	Lorentz Transformations in one Spatial Dimension
	Time Dilation
	Lorentz Contraction
	Lorentz Transformation of Velocity and Acceleration
	Momentum and Energy
	The Doppler Shift
	Collisions

ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

	Maxwell’s Equations and the Boundary Conditions on E and B
	Electrostatics
	Solving Problems Using the Uniqueness Theorems of Electrostatics
	Maxwell’s Equations in the Presence of Material Media
	Ohm’s Law and DC Circuits
	AC Circuits with Harmonic Driving Voltage
	Power Consumption in AC Circuits
	Permanent Magnets
	Magnetic Fields Produced by Free, Time-Independent Currents
	The Lorentz Force
	Potentials in Time-Dependent Situations
	Lenz’sLaw
	Energy and Momentum Densities and Flux
	Inductance
	Lorentz Transformations of the E and B Fields
	Plane Wave Solutions of Maxwell’s Equations in a Homogeneous
	Non-conducting Isotropic Medium
	Simple Microscopic Models of Electrical Conductivity and Index of Refraction
	Electromagnetic Waves in Cavities and Pipes Within Perfect Conductors
	Radiation by Non-relativistic Accelerating Charges

QUANTUM MECHANICS

	Classical Mechanics vs. Quantum Mechanics
	The Formalism of Quantum Mechanics
	Angular Momentum
	Bound State Solutions of the One-Particle Schrödinger Equation
	Density of States
	Approximation Methods
	Non-relativistic Charged Particle in an Electromagnetic Field
	Time-Dependent Problems
	Scattering in One Dimension by a Localized Potential
	Scattering by a Three-Dimensional Localized Potential
	Born Approximation

The book, "A REVIEW OF UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICS", presents a clear summary of most of the material covered in an American undergraduate program in physics.

A REVIEW OF UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICS

BENJAMIN F. BAYMAN, University of Minnesota

MORTON HAMERMESH, University of Minnesota

JOHN WILEY & SONS

Links to solved problems:

	Physics 513, Problems in Theoretical Physics I
	Physics 514, Problems in Theoretical Physics II