The structure and content of the level 2 physics course is significantly different from the first year. Using the strong essentially classical foundation provided in the first year course, you are in a position to tackle the fundamentals of a wide range of topics in modern physics.

This is a challenge, in that you will be developing new ways to think about the world around you, which is really governed by quantum physics rather than classical physics. Our experience is that students respond well to this challenge. The reward is real insight into the rich vista of physical phenomena from atomic and nuclear scales right through to cosmological scales.

Level 2 Physics in 2013

The prerequisite units to be able to study Level 2 Physics units are: PHYS1001, PHYS1002 and MATH1001

The Level 2 Physics units are

The first semester unit PHYS2001 also requires a previous pass, or concurrent enrolment, in MATH1002. PHYS2001 & PHYS2002 can be taken in any order, but PHYS2001 is only offered in first semester and PHYS2002 is only offered in second semester.

The above set of Level 1 & 2 units provides three possible pathways for further study in Physics:

• Physics Major (Physics stream)
• Physics Major (Astronomy & Astrophysics stream)
• Physics Elective Level 3 units 

For students undertaking a Physics Major (either stream), two Level 2 complementary units have to be taken in addition to PHYS2001 and PHYS2002, namely:

CITS2401 Computer Analysis & Visualisation (Semester 1 or 2) with prerequisite MAT3AB

MATH2501 Mathematical Methods 3 (Semester 2) with prerequisite MATH1002

Level 2 computer lab

This is a facility within the School of Physics which is available exclusively to second year students. Accounts are available to all second years on fast and well-equipped machines, and students are encouraged to use the facility for general computing purposes (including email and web access).

The facility houses Mathematica based packages which have been designed to assist with the understanding and visualization of lecture and assignment material for the quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, and chaos modules. Lecture material and assignment solutions for many other modules are also available via this facility, and the astronomy module makes extensive use of the web.

The computing facility is adjacent to the second year laboratory, and students are encouraged to use graphical and data analysis packages in the analysis and presentation of experimental results. Instruction in the use of these packages is provided.