Physics

    Chalmers University of Technology

    Symmetry
    Period II, autumn semester 2022. Course code TIF310/FYM310, 7.5 hp.

    News:

    Dec 16, last updated Jan 16: Time slots for oral examination:
    Monday Jan 16: 13-13.45
    Tuesday Jan 17: 10-10.45, 13-13.45
    Wednesday Jan 18: 9-9.45, 10-10.45, 13-13.45, 14-14.45
    Thursday Jan 19: 13-13.45, 14-14.45
    Friday Jan 20: 9-9.45, 10-10.45, 13-13.45, 14-14.45
    All in Origo 6102.
    Pair with someone, pick a time and book by sending me a mail.
    Bring your older corrected assignments.

    Dec 13: Home assignment 3, 2022, deadline Jan 8.

    Dec 6: Deadline for home assignment 2 is extended to Sunday Dec. 11.

    Dec 5: A correction to the 2nd problem in set 2. The question is asked in 4 dimensions. The file is updated.

    Nov 28: Home assignment 2, 2022, deadline Dec 9.

    Nov 8: Home assignment 1, 2022, deadline Nov 18.

    Oct 21: Home page updated.

    Literature:

      Lecture notes
      These may be updated during the course.
      Last updated Dec. 2, 2021.

      Recommended additional reading:
      "Physics from Symmetry" by Jakob Schwichtenberg.

    Lecturer:

    Examination is done with home assignments (3 sets), and an oral examination.

      The home assignments will appear here in due time. Deadlines are Nov. 18, Dec. 11, Jan. 8.
      Solutions, in the form of pdf files produced by TeX/LaTeX, can be sent by email or left in a box outside room O6102.

      The grade is based on the results on the home assignments, where approximate limits are 1/2 of the maximum number of points for grade 3, 2/3 for grade 4 and 5/6 for grade 5. For GU students: 1/2 for G, 3/4 for VG. The maximum number of points is 30 (preliminary, 2 points for each problem).

      Oral examination January (dates to be decided).
      The oral examination is done in pairs. Its purpose is to see that you are able to answer for what you did in the home assignments.

      Home assignment 1, 2022, deadline Nov 18.
      Home assignment 2, 2022, deadline Dec 9.
      Home assignment 3, 2022, deadline Jan 8.

      Old assignments:
      Problem set 1: 2019 2020 2021
      Problem set 2: 2019 2020 2021
      Problem set 3: 2020 2021

    Schedule from TimeEdit

    Lectures: Mondays (except Dec. 12) 10-12, Wednesdays 10-12 and 13-15.
    Question hour: Thursday Dec. 8, 10.30-12.

      These lectures are a mix of theory lectures, applications amd question hours.
      Typically, Wednesday afternoon will be more oriented towards problem-solving.
      It is advisable to prepare by reading and working through the relevant parts of the lecture notes.
      The teaching takes place live, in the rooms indicated on the schedule.

    Plan:

    Week 1:

      Linear spaces. Groups, Lie groups, Lie algebras. Representations. SL(2).

    Week 2:

      Representations of SL(2). Tensors. Space-time symmetries: the Lorentz, Poincaré and conformal algebras and their action on fields.

    Week 3:

      Scalar fields. Classical field theory. Action. Scalars, the Klein-Gordon equation.

    Week 4:

      Spinors in 3 and 4 dimensions. The Dirac equation. Action. Chirality

    Week 5:

      More about simple Lie algebras. SL(3) etc. Roots and weights. Representations.

    Week 6:

      Forms, gauge fields, Yang–Mills theory. Hamiltonian formulation.

    Week 7:

      Noether's theorem, conserved charges.



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