Courses Offered (AY2026/2027)

This course is an introduction to electromagnetics (EM) for electrical engineers. Electromagnetics is essential in all disciplines of electrical engineering. At the end of this course, students will be able to explain many physical phenomena in everyday life, such as electricity energy transmission, wave reflection/transmission, and the impact of skin depth on wave propagation. Topics covered include: static electric fields, static magnetic fields, timevarying fields, electromagnetic waves, transmission lines and antennas.

This core course for Physics majors offers a comprehensive foundation in Electricity and Magnetism, essential for advancing in Science and Engineering. Starting with vector calculus (covering gradient, divergence, curl, and the divergence and Stokes’ theorems), the course then addresses electrostatic fields, Coulomb’s law, and Poisson’s equation, including electrostatic fields in matter. Following this, students will study magnetostatic fields, Biot-Savart’s law, and Poisson’s equation, including magnetostatic fields in matter. The course progresses to time-varying electric and magnetic fields through Faraday’s and Ampère’s laws, culminating in Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves in a vacuum. Knowledge from PC2032 is recommended.

This essential course for Physics majors introduces the mathematical framework underlying advanced theoretical physics. Building on H2 Mathematics, it explores the principles of classical mechanics, covering Newtonian mechanics topics like kinematics, forces, torques, and conservation laws, with applications to Kepler’s laws. Students learn about linear and angular momentum, systems of particles, and Newtonian gravity. The course introduces Lagrangian mechanics and the Euler-Lagrange equations, presenting a powerful alternative to Newtonian methods. Fluid mechanics concepts, such as fluid statics, dynamics, and Bernoulli’s equation, are also covered, providing a robust foundation for further study in mechanics and theoretical physics.

This course provides a rigorous introduction to quantum mechanics. It begins with a brief introduction to the development of quantum physics. Then it discusses topics like particle-wave duality, the Schrödinger equation, one dimensional systems like free particle, square potential well, quantum tunnelling, harmonic oscillator, and the formal description of quantum systems including Hilbert space, observables and operators, eigenfunctions, the uncertainty relations, the Dirac notation and simple two-level systems. The course ends with discussions of some stationary problems in three dimensions like particle in a box and degenerate states, the Schrödinger equation in spherical coordinates, and the hydrogen atom.

Introductory aspects of quantum physics. Two state quantum systems. The wave function and Schrodinger equation. Quantum harmonic oscillator; hydrogen atom; spherical harmonics. Atomic spectra. Scattering theory. Applications such as semiconductors, lasers, quantum dots and wires.

This essential course for Physics majors is intended for students who wish to acquire a deep understanding of systems of many particles. It considers the fundamentals of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics and is a prerequisite to advanced statistical mechanics. It covers topics such as: the laws of thermodynamics, thermodynamic functions, ideal gases, heat engines; microcanonical ensemble, canonical ensemble, Boltzmann distribution and partition function; introduction to quantum gases.

This course aims to give students the necessary mathematical skills for other physics courses. The topics to be covered include: complex numbers and hyperbolic functions; single-variable calculus; Taylor series; first order and second order ordinary differential equations; vectors and matrices; eigenvalues and eigenvectors; partial differentiation; multiple integrals; physical applications.

This course provides a comprehensive training of both experimental and data analytical skills in mechanics, electronics, magnetism, nuclear physics, semiconductors, optics and lasers. In particular, emphasis is placed on the basic measurement skills in physics experiments, familiarisation of the commonly used experimental apparatus, as well as the collection, handling, and analysis of real world data. While this module is mainly targeted at physics majors, it is also suitable for science and engineering students who are interested in a career in the industries of semiconductors, optical communications, and life sciences.

This course introduces the underlying principles and mechanisms of physics behind life sciences. It incorporates introductory concepts of physics into the phenomena associated with biological functions. The topics to be covered include: biological structures and the relation to biophysics; principles and methods of physics applied to biology; physical aspects of structure and functionalities of biomolecules, physical principles of bioenergy conversion and membrane-bound energy transduction; physical processes of bio-transport, nerves and bioelectricity. The course includes some basic biophysics experiments. It is targeted at both physics and non-physics students who already have basic knowledge in physics.

This course introduces the use of telescopes and data collection in astronomy. Students will learn how to set up and competently operate a telescope. Then students will learn how to plan and conduct astronomical observations for scientific purposes. Finally, students will learn how to process and analyse astronomical data.

This course will adopt a heuristic approach to celestial dynamics. Mathematics will be introduced only when necessary. Participants will also be enthused with the historical and philosophical development of celestial adventures discussed. Topics covered include elements of Newton and Kepler’s Laws, Planetary Orbits and Rocketry, Apollo program, Saturn V & SpaceX Boosters.

The course introduces the basic ideas of quantum computation, i.e., to use quantum mechanical systems to perform computational tasks. Quantum computing is a multi-disciplinary field, with realisations grounded in physics, but which rely on core concepts in mathematics and computer science. Students will learn about the potential advantage quantum mechanics can bring to computing, understand central quantum information concepts, explore some of the basic algorithms, as well as get hands-on experience on quantum computing devices on the cloud. Prior experience with quantum mechanics is not assumed, but knowledge of linear algebra is required.

Many topics debated in nanoscience are frontier and futuristic, although some have immediate technological applications. The fundamental scientific principles of all nanotechnology applications, however, are grounded in basic physics and chemistry. This course thus aims to illustrate and discuss the physics and chemistry that are operative at the nanoscale. Students will be introduced to some fundamental principles of physics and chemistry important to the nanoscale and learn to appreciate what the world is like when things are shrunk to this scale. They will also learn about some basic physical tools that can be used to explore structures at this length scale. On completion of this course, students will learn to appreciate the linkages between the fundamental sciences and practical applications in nanotechnology.

Computing plays a crucial role in how science understands our world. It is often considered the ‘third pillar’ of science, alongside theory and experiments. This course will allow you to experience how computers can be used to solve fun and interesting problems (e.g. climate models, real-time measurements), in interdisciplinary science. You will also learn how to approach tackling complex problems by breaking them into smaller ones, noting similarities, identifying what data is essential and devising steps that will lead to a solution. We will then learn to use the Python programming language to implement some of these solutions.