Physics prep-material obtained: MST209 and S207

Okay, quick post.

I have now obtained hard-copies of several units from the Open University courses MST209 Mathematical Methods and Modelling, and S207 The Physical World; which I believe will top up my M208 Pure Mathematics, MST121 Using Mathematics and M337 Complex Analysis studies; to allow me to launch into SMT359 Electromagnetism, and other applied mathematical physics courses, as the next 2 years unfold.

The units that I will be studying between October 2012 and Feb 2012, are:

First-Order Differential Equations (MST209)

Second-Order Differential Equations (MST209)

Partial Differential Equations (MST209)

Fourier Series (MST209)

Scalar and Vector Fields (MST209)

Vector Calculus (MST209)

Fields that Vary with Time (S207)

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation (S207)

Static Fields and Potentials (S207)



I am struggling to get hold of MST209 Unit 25, Multiple Integrals; so if anyone knows where I can find a hard-copy or PDF, then please let me know.  Likewise, if anyone thinks I am missing any important content out, then please let me know, so I can add it to my list of self-study items.

This studying should all fit in nicely between M337 and SMT359, as long as Christmas doesn't interfere!

M337 Complex Analysis and SMT359 Electromagnetism

I had pre-registered with the OU on two courses that are due to start in October 2012, which are Complex analysis and Number theory.  However, I received an email from the O.U stating that because of transitional arrangements with fees; that my registrations had been cancelled and that I needed to re-register this week.

It isn't too much of a drama, as I always pre-register on the course I think i will probably do, and then I do a final check, before committing to them.  This approach has worked well in the past, as I often hone my path, depending on my experiences of that year's study.

So far, I have enjoyed M208, even if Group Theory was a bit dull.  I have started the Linear algebra units and they are much more satisfying and easier to conceptualise.

So, today, I have done my final checks, before registering on my next two courses that follow M208, which is due to finish in October 2012.

I have chosen:

M337 Compex analysis starting Oct 2012

SMT359 Electromagnetism starting Feb 2013

This staggered presentation actually works very well for me.  It allows me to get a real head start in cracking complex analysis, and aim for that level 1 pass, before applying some of its content, in the course that starts in February.

This means that the exams will be staggered as well, and that I will then be able to study for the electromagnetism exam, without distraction.

Why am I dropping number theory this year?  Well, there are several very solid reasons.  But primarily, because of the transitional fee arrangements, all O.U students are now restricted in picking and choosing modules.  For me, this means that my plan to complete some pure maths at level 3, before going on to do applied maths; would have taken me over my allowed 360 points, that I can claim reduced fees.

Bottom line?  I can't afford the luxury of meandering my way through the whole maths syllabus, offered by the O.U at undergraduate level.

So now, it has forced me to be much more focussed.  So, in line with my plans of reaching the dizzying heights of mathematical physics; I will take the complex analysis course (essential in my opinion) and start my first mathematical physics course, with the O.U, earlier than I had planned to.

In a way, it probably makes much more sense, and may even force me to move through my studies, a lot quicker than I had planned.

I am missing some applied maths at level 2, by not taking MST209, but I plan to remedy this, by trying to get hold of the PDF's for MST209, that specifically cover any content required for SMT359.

What are my preliminary plans for Oct 2013?  Well, hot favourite at the moment, is The Quantum World and another level 3 maths / physics course.  I do have to be careful though, to ensure that I can still claim transitional fees, for the courses I choose, so watch this space.

Groups and Geometry M336

After careful consideration, I won't ever be taking this course...

That is all.

Grrrrrroups

I seem to be having great difficulty in recalling any of the Group Theory that  I have learnt over the last 4 weeks. It has been particularly difficult to decipher some of the questions and what they are asking for, as the use of special meanings for everyday words, is just piling up.  Symmetry, means something different if it is a symmetric group; order, isn't what you do at a restaurant and index is not a catalogue shop. Hmmm!

So I have had the strange experience of learning a unit and then have got to the examples at the end, only to find that it doesn't bear any resemblance to what I have just read.  So I have started going through all the exam questions from 2008 onwards, to get a flavour for what I absolutely have to know, to pass the Groups bit of the paper.

I shall learn the question structures and hopefully it will start to make sense.

Goodness knows what Group Theory B has in store for me.

Progress so far...

I am sorry, but I think Group Theory is dull.  Dull as ditch water, in fact.  I thought I might like it, on account of me being horribly dyslexic and having a knack for visualising 3d shapes and their permutations.  But, Group Theory has been made sufficiently boring by the O.U, that any fun, for me, left the building about three weeks ago.

So, I am finding that I am having to drag myself through the Groups material, which means that I haven't studied it in as much depth, as the intro materials.  I understand, from the day school discussions, that the O.U's method of presenting Group Theory, is just one of many ways of presentation and approach.  Another, method being; the understanding that Groups have to be constructed exactly how they are, otherwise without them, we couldn't make algebra work, for example.

To explore that aspect of Groups, would have been interesting and the tutor made a good attempt to do so, last month at the day school.  But, the O.U's general treatment of this subject is still B.O.R.I.N.G.

Even so, my enthusiasm for discovering more about Groups, has not been diminished; as I own a book called Adventures In Group Theory, which is all about the applications of theory, to solving the Rubik Cube.  Much more satisfying!  Check the above link for a freely available PDF of this book, courtesy of Durham University.

My one concern, is that I am planning to study Groups and Geometry, at level 3.  I am not sure I could sustain yawning that much, for a whole nine months; so I will keep that decision under review.

Study Methods, M208

I tend to find that my study methods evolve over a module's lifetime, and even from week to week.  When I first took on M208, I began by doing a pre-read of each unit book omitting the exercises, before returning to complete the exercises, selecting a handful from each sub-section, at the end of the week.

The problem with such an approach, is that when the subject gets very abstract, such as when you start to examine conjugacy's of this, and permutations of that; you often find that you lose the thread of what is going on, halfway through a sub-section.  The issue with doing so, of course, is that much of the OU's style, is to build on earlier concepts, with increasing complexity.

So, you can find yourself struggling to understand relatively straight forward concepts at the back of the book, just because you haven't fully grasped an earlier concept.

So,  when tackling the Group Theory units this month, I have adopted an adjusted method, which consists of reading a unit through without doing any exercises, at first; but then, at the point of loosing track of what is going on or getting confused, I put a mark in the margin, and quickly return to the beginning of that sub-unit when I then tackle one or two exercises, in that sub-unit.

I can then quickly move on without too much disruption and with full understanding.

It's a little like the Feynman Method, which I have discussed in a previous post (can't remember which one), and it works very well.  It is a good method to use, if you are short of time, as I have found that I can blast through a first unit's reading, within two study sessions, leaving the exercises for revision at the end of each week.

The key is to just do enough exercises to ensure understanding, on the first pass of the material.

M208 TMA01, Parts I and II Passed!

I am thrilled to be able to say, that I have passed my first TMA of the Open University Course M208.  I scored 100% for the whole paper.  Even so,  I was very pleased to see that my tutor still had plenty of very useful comments to make, on all aspects of the piece.

The main highlighted theme of learning seemed to be, brevity.  There were one or two answers where I had used about a page to provide the explanation; but my tutor gave an alternative answer, which took up two lines.  I have to admit, I was being so careful to include all of the detail, that I have clearly started to add too much superfluous information, in the process.

So, I move forward with a smile and a fair idea of where I need to be, in the coming months.

Now, I'm going for a drink!

M208 TMA02, Q1 - 3 complete.

Fifty five out of one hundred marks, completed, and it is feeling deceptively straight forward.  I just don't  understand why this is so.  The intro units were taxing, to the point where I actually woke up at 2am, one cold winter's night, convinced that my journey was over; when I couldn't even work out, what the equivalence question 7a) in TMA01,  was asking me to do.

Fast-forward one month.  I have just completed half of the Group Theory paper, and it felt like treading an old path.  The symbols were familiar.  The method of laying out an answer, straight forward.  The completion, pure joy.

What exactly, is going on?

I haven't a clue.  Any thoughts are gladly welcome...

Group Theory versus Analysis

I don't know about anyone else, on the O.U course M208; but I am finding the topics of Group Theory and Analysis, so far apart from each other, in terms of mathematical flavours; that I am beginning to feel like Analysis is not dissimilar to a wonderfully stodgy, bread and butter pudding (quintessential, robust and ever so yummy); whilst Group Theory feels like more of a Monday lunchtime, fish-paste sandwich.

They are just so different; that I find myself wondering how it can be possible to love both areas of mathematics. I mean, Group Theory kind of feels a little bit like messing around with puzzles in the back of the Sunday newspapers.  Don't misunderstand me here; I don't mean that Group Theory is easy, by any stretch.  Rather, it just feels like messing around with stuff, for its own sake.  This approach is supported by my day school tutor, who said this weekend, "don't ask why Group Theory is that way; just have fun with it, and enjoy it for its own sake".

Analysis, on the other hand,  is just breathtakingly beautiful. You only have to thumb through the unit books of AA1 and beyond, to see that Analysis can be studied both for the pleasure of enjoying the pure aspect of its construction - and also for practical applications, that can present themselves at the end of the subject.

So far, I'm with Analysis, all the way; although I am yet to properly taste Linear Algebra.  So, who knows?  I might have time to clean my palette, before opening a new bottle of dessert wine, to wash down that second bowl of pudding.

M208 TMA02

I have started on question 1 of this TMA, which covers group theory from the units GTA, M208.  One thing I have noticed about the start of this TMA, is that it feels a lot easier than the second part of TMA01, which covered a lot of introductory concepts and areas, in preparation for the rest of the course.

In analysing it, I don't think that it is any easier; I just think that my brain has adapted to the types of information and rigour that is needed, to answer the questions well.

When I was completing TMA01, I just couldn't remember how to include all of the information needed, to answer the question and pick up the marks.  I think this has been commented on in many places recently, and it is because the rigour that is needed, can turn the most simple of answers, into three pages of waffle, where you feel as if you are repeating yourself.

It reminds me of when I began my O.U journey, studying art history and the humanities.  My, then tutor, told me that in order to do well in an essay question; you needed to state your answer in the introduction, restate it with explanation and evidence in the main body of the question and then finally to restate it again, in the summary and conclusion section.

This wash, rinse and repeat method, certainly looks like the method that is needed to answer a rigorous pure mathematics question.