Seminars
Participants are taught in small seminar groups of up to 12 students, and receive two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor.
Sunday
Seminar 1: Classical physics, setting the scene, Faraday, Maxwell, Newton and Cambridge.
Seminar 2: Problems with classical physics. Rutherford’s atom.
Monday
Seminar 3: Planck and Black Body radiation.
Seminar 4: Einstein and the Photoelectric Effect.
Tuesday
Seminar 5: Heisenberg and Bohr, uncertainties, and a new atomic viewpoint.
Seminar 6: Schrodinger and Dirac equations of Quantum Mechanics.
Wednesday
Seminar 7: Pauli and M. Born and Feynman: Quantum numbers and interpretations.
Seminar 8: Galilean transformations, classical Physics.
Thursday
Seminar 9: Special Relativity and Einstein.
Seminar 10: A. Einstein: his life and legacy.
Friday
Seminar 11: General relativity: Field equations and space-time.
Seminar 12: Applications and consolidation.
Programme timetable
The daily timetable will normally be as follows:
Saturdays
14.00–16.30 - Registration
16.30–17.00 - Orientation meeting
17.00–17.30 - Classroom orientation for tutor and students
17.30–18.00 - Drinks reception
18.00–20.00 - Welcome dinner
Sundays – Fridays
09.00–10.30 - Seminar
10.30–11.00 - Tea/coffee break
11.00–12.30 - Seminar
12.30–13.30 - Lunch
13.30–18.00 - Afternoons are free for tutorials, individual study, course-related field trips or exploring the many places of interest in and around Oxford.
18.00–19.00 - Dinner (There is a formal gala dinner every Friday to close each week of the programme)
A range of optional social events will be offered throughout the summer school. These are likely to include: a quiz night, visit to historic pubs in Oxford, visit to Christ Church for Evensong and after-dinner talks and discussions.