Exams

Mid-term

The mid-term exam was held on three sessions according to the following timetable:

Exam material includes:

• For the practical part: sessions 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
• For the theoretical part: lectures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Download the exam:

• Click here to view the practical exam and its model solution.
• Click here to view the written exam and its model solution.

Final

Exam material includes:

• For the practical part: all lab sessions 0-7.
• For the theoretical part: all lectures 1-9.
• General information about ideas said in seminars (those delivered by students and invited speakers).

Download the exam:

• Click here to view the practical exam and its model solution.
• Click here to view the written exam and its model solution.

Projects and Seminars

You have the choice of making a project or presenting a seminar. You should know, however, that doing a seminar is likely to give you more marks.

Either way, you need to make your choice of topic no later than 22-May-2005. If you do not choose a topic by then, one will be assigned to you by the instructor. Choosing your own topic will give you extra credit. A roster for scheduled seminars and projects will be posted here soon.

For a topic that requires considerable work, two partners are allowed to cooperate and to present a joint work.

You can come for consultation with me whenever you see me in the lab.

It is OK to use references for your work from the internet, provided that you get my approval for them, and that you document the web address of your source.

Seminar versus Project

• As mentioned earlier, doing a seminar is likely to give you more grades than a project. Of course, if you perform badly on your seminar you do not get to have a high mark automatically.
• For the seminar, you'll need to make a PowerPoint presentation in front of an audience made up of your colleagues and whoever wishes to attend. As for the project, no presentation is required, and your work is to be submitted either in electronic form or on paper.

Seminar Specifications and Preparation

• How do you choose a seminar topic? First, there is a pool of proposed topics below, from which you can choose a topic of your liking. If you don't like any of the topics you see, you may propose one of your own.
• Whatever your choice of topic might be, try to make it as much relevant as possible to the themes of our course, and to present ideas we did not come across during our work.
• After choosing your topic, you'll need to research your topic, and gather resources, you can consult me if you're having trouble finding what you're looking for.
• The presentation you'll make needs to be prepared on PowerPoint. If you have no prior experience in using this software, or if you face difficulties using it, you can ask me for help.
• Try to make your presentation suitable for a general science audience, so don't get too technical, or too mathematical.
• Limit the time of your presentation to no more than 15 minutes, and no less than 10.

Project Specifications and Preparation

• We mean by project here a scientific paper, in which you solve a physical problem that at some stage requires the use of a computer, like the kind of problems you worked on in the lab sheets. If you propose a different format, we'll discuss it together and decide its feasibility.
• Choose a problem whose solution at one stage or another requires the use of a computer. Avoid choosing problems in which the use of a computer is redundant.
• Choose your problem from whatever field in physics you like.
• Interesting and involved problems are preferred to trivial ones.
• Write your paper according to the specifications of a scientific paper. Not adhering to the criteria of writing a scientific paper will harm your mark.
• You can hand in your work as an electronic file (preferably a Mathematica notebook), or in paper form. But in either case, you'll need to supply me with workable versions of all code you've used in your programmes.

Proposed Topic Pool for Seminars and Projects:

• Linux: scientific oriented applications on Linux.
• Java and Java Applets: Simulation, and more.
• FORTRAN and its libraries.
• MATLAB.
• Maple.
• MathCAD. 
• Parallel computing, super computers...etc. 
• Quantum computing.
• Nano-technology.
• Scientific typesetting; T_EX (L^AT_EX), MathML, and software like MathType and Mathematica.
• CUPS: simulation programmes in physics.
• The GNU project.
• Monte-Carlo method (in numerical analysis).
• Interfacing a PC with a lab instrument; using MathLink.

• Optica (an external Mathematica package).

• Experimental Data Analyst (an external Mathematica package).

• Advanced Topics in Mathematica.

Seminars and Projects Prepared by Students

Seminar Evaluation

The mark you'll get for the seminar will be based on your overall performance and the quality of the material you deliver. In particular, the following categories will be observed:

• How well prepared you are, and how well you seem to know your material.

• Clarity of presentation; remember that what you say will be part of the material for the final!

• Structure and coherence of ideas presented.

• The ability of the ideas presented to cover the basics of the topic adequately.

• Use of examples is preferred by not mandatory.

• The ability to answer questions from the floor.

Project Evaluation

The final project here is a scientific paper, and as such it needs to comply with the conventional criteria of such a work. In particular, evaluation will look for:

• The ability of the paper to answer the main topic to which it is addressed.

• Coherence of ideas, and a good clear logical structure and presentation.

• A competent and rich analysis (if applicable).

• Adherence to the criteria of writing scientific papers.