Quantum Mechanics and Electromagnetism Preparation

Okay, so I am now in full swing with my preparatory studying in preparation for the level 3 Open University mathematical physics courses, The Quantum World (SM358) and Electromagnetism (SMT359).

These are the main offerings at level 3 for physics.  There are another two courses that cover Astrophysics and also Relativity / Cosmology, which look very interesting, but I am not sure they fit in with my study plans.

That will leave me with two other, rather obvious courses, for me to choose in order to make up an appealing and ostensibly solid mathematical physics / applied maths background to my degree.  Those courses are, Waves Diffusion and Variational Principles (MS324) and the science project course Radiation and Matter (SXP390).

I have added this project module on my list of hot favourite modules for October 2013, simply because it will follow on nicely from the quantum and electro stuff that I will have just finished studying; and it appears to allow some research and writing in a substantial piece of work.  This will develop skills that I don't currently have and that I critically need, if I am to study a masters thesis module or even move straight onto a part-time MPhil or beyond.

It will also nicely consolidate my Feb 2013 study modules, as I will be applying them in the following 9 month period.  The project subjects available include work on quantum entanglement, so it certainly sounds challenging enough to whet the appetite.

Anyway, this week I have now studied the following prep materials:

recap on:
differentiation and integration
first order differential equations
solving linear equations

So I have managed to cover 32hrs worth of work, from the OU course MST209 (Mathematical Methods and Models), in 12hrs.  Having said that, much of it was a recap or advancement on work that I had done in MST121 or M208 in 2011 / 2012.

Next stop, second order differential equations and some recap on vector algebra, before, next week,  I launch into some Fourier Series and partial differential equations.

Awesome!