| Module | Credits | Compulsory/optional |
|---|
| Rocket Performance and Propulsion | 15 Credits | Optional |
| This module will introduce students to flight dynamics of rockets and their propulsion systems. Typical applications under consideration will include satellite launch and insertion into orbit, sounding rockets and potential future applications such as space tourism. |
| Professional Placement | 0 Credits | Optional |
| Supervised work experience provides students with the opportunity to set their academic studies in a broader context, to gain practical experience in specific technical areas and to strengthen their communication and time-management skills. It greatly assists them in developing as independent learners, so that they are able to gain the maximum benefit from the learning opportunities provided at level 6 of the programme. |
| Space Dynamics | 15 Credits | Optional |
| Space dynamics is a coursework-only module. Students work in a computer lab supervised by the module facilitator. There are no formal lectures. Instead, students work their way through a set of computer exercises using Matlab. The exercises allow the student to tackle problems in different ways and develop their own style of problem-solving. The module covers various aspects in spacecraft dynamics including: atmospheric drag, aerobraking, transfer orbits, injection orbits, spacecraft spin, the stability of spinning motion – Euler's equations, three-dimensional spin motion, and mass models of irregular objects.
The module develops skills in research enquiry and problem solving, analysis and evaluation, interpersonal and communication skills, autonomy and responsibility for actions. |
| Year Abroad | 0 Credits | Optional |
| The Year Abroad will provide students with the opportunity to expand, develop and apply the knowledge and skills gained in the first two taught years of the degree within a different organisational and cultural environment in a partner academic institution. The host institution will appoint a Programme Co-ordinator who will oversee the student's programme during the Year Abroad and will liaise with the appointed UH Supervisor. |
| Computational Physics | 15 Credits | Optional |
| In this module you will develop your computational skills by investigating problems in physics and astrophysics. You will have the opportunity to use and modify numerical programmes written in languages such as Python and Matlab. The module is delivered in a hands-on workshop environment in a computer laboratory. You will typically study two or three problems and assessment is based on a report you write on each of your investigations.
In this module you will develop your skills in research enquiry, computer programming/modelling, scientific writing, and critical thinking. |
| Partial Differential Equations | 15 Credits | Optional |
| Partial differential equations arise as part of the mathematical modelling of real life problems connected to many areas of science. These connections must be exploited to find a solution to these problems. PDEs provide the foundation for a robust and important area of applied mathematics. In this module we will look at the derivation of some important PDEs and their classification schemes.
In this module you will develop your skills in problem solving, and analysis and evaluation. |
| Nonlinear Systems | 15 Credits | Optional |
| You will learn how to investigate and evaluate the qualitative behaviour of the solutions of differential equations which relate to problems in a wide variety of application areas. You will recognise that the behaviour of the solution of a differential equation can be drastically altered by a small change in a parameter. These observations have important contributions in improving the applications of mathematics in industry, business and the physical sciences. The module provides the student with an understanding of differential equations by the construction, analysis and interpretation of phase portraits. In particular you will be able to identify if and when periodic solutions and other types of behaviour exist.
The module develops skills in problem solving, analysis and evaluation, team and organisational working, interpersonal and communication skills, and conceptualisation. |
| Placement with Study Abroad | 0 Credits | Optional |
| For the placement element the supervised work experience provides students with the opportunity to set their academic studies in a broader context, to gain practical experience in specific technical areas and to strengthen their communication and time management skills. The host company will appoint a Line Manager who will oversee the student during the placement and will liaise with the appointed UH supervisor.
The study abroad element will provide students with the opportunity to expand, develop and apply the knowledge and skills gained in the first two taught years of the degree within a different organisational and cultural environment in a partner academic institution. The host institution will appoint a Programme Co-ordinator who will oversee the students programme during the time abroad and will liaise with appointed UH supervisor.
Both opportunities will help develop students as independent learners, so that they are able to gain the maximum benefit from the learning opportunities provided at level 6 of the programme. |
| Condensed States of Matter | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| This module covers the basic properties of condensed matter states. It demonstrates the application of quantum physics to many particle systems and discusses modern applications including, semi-conductors, degeneracy, and Bose-Einstein condensation. You will develop your skills of modelling, problem solving and research enquiry.
In this module you will develop your skills in problem solving and research enquiry, scientific writing and information searching. |
| The Physics of Elementary Particles | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The module will provide an account of the particle physics of the standard model, our most complete theory of the fundamental rules governing the microscopic nature of matter and forces. The material will cover everything from the early ideas of the start of the twentieth century through to the modern picture, which represents our current understanding and has only been confirmed much more recently by large international experiments, such as those based at CERN.
In this module you will develop your skills in problem solving and research enquiry, scientific writing and information searching, and conceptualisation. |
| Astrophysics Project and Investigative Skills | 30 Credits | Compulsory |
| Students will carry out a piece of research and/or a literature review in a research topic. Astrophysics research areas in the School include; star formation in the Milky Way, the disc and bulge of the Milky Way, extra-solar planets and brown dwarfs, planetary nebulae and white dwarfs, Active Galactic Nuclei physics and environment, the formation and evolution of galaxies, and the structure of galaxies. A successful project will become a feature of a student's professional profile and CV, and is often a talking point in graduate job interviews and/or postgraduate applications.
The module develops skills in research enquiry and problem solving, analysis and evaluation, organisational working, interpersonal and communication skills, scientific writing and information searching, conceptualisation and critical thinking, adaptation to context, synthesis and creativity, personal evaluation and development, and ethical awareness and application. |
| Star Formation and Evolution | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The module will cover the fundamentals of stars and their structure, including their formation and evolution from the main sequence to final stellar remnants. It will develop an understanding of the principles and details driving the evolution of stars and the conditions in their deep interiors. Emphasis will be placed on the physics involved. An appreciation will be gained of the history of this field as well as the current open questions at the forefront of research. Lectures and discussions will present and develop the basic course material and concepts. Numerical assignments, practical reports, class tests and a final examination will allow and test consolidation of the learning outcomes. Observatory work will provide training in experimental and observational skills.
In this module you will develop your skills in problem solving and research inquiry, analysis and evaluation, team and organisational working, interpersonal and communication skills, and scientific writing and information searching. |
| Foundations of Cosmology | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The study of the structure and evolution of the Universe has in the last few decades undergone a true transformation. Rather than theorists pursuing their models unencumbered by meaningful observational constraints, we now have entered the era of precision cosmology. This in no small part has been due to the tremendous technological advances that have allowed observational cosmologists to chart the structure of the Universe, all the way out to its observable edge. The module will cover the mathematical framework needed to describe expanding, curved space-time, i.e., the Robertson-Walker metric, and the concepts of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity as it applies to cosmology, in particular the Friedmann models. This is followed by an inventory of the constituents of the Universe, including Dark Matter and Dark Energy, and how theory and observations have led to the current consensus or Concordance model of the Universe.
In this module you will develop your skills in problem solving and research enquiry, analysis and evaluation, team and organisational working, interpersonal and communication skills, scientific writing and information searching, and conceptualisation. |
| The Physics of Astronomical Spectra | 15 Credits | Optional |
| From the nearest stars to the most distant galaxies (and the tenuous matter in between), astronomers can reveal and study properties and physical conditions by measuring the spectrum of the emitted radiation. Learn about the radiative processes that shape the variety of spectra encountered, and understand how astronomers discover the huge diversity of astronomical objects around us; the emergent radiation of stellar atmospheres and of giant glowing nebulae will be examined, along with the way in which spectroscopy picks up the imprint of the extremely low density inter-stellar medium.
In this module you will develop your skills in research enquiry and problem solving, conceptualisation, and data synthesis. |
| The Early Universe and Galaxy Formation | 15 Credits | Optional |
| A combination of incredible advances in observational techniques, i.e., large ground-based optical and radio telescopes, complemented with sophisticated space-based observatories, has made it possible to peer out to the edge of the observable Universe, effectively looking back in time when (proto-) galaxies first assembled. This module describes what the Universe was like from its earliest
beginnings. It describes the oldest light that has reached us and what that teaches us about the fundamental parameters that describe the Universe, when the first structures formed under the influence of gravity, and how these structures evolved into what in the nearby Universe we call galaxies. In the course of this module topic coverage will include Inflation, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the era of Recombination and the Cosmic Microwave Background, Large Scale Structure formation, the Jeans law and Galaxy Formation, the formation and characteristics of Galaxy clusters, and gravitational lensing.
In this module you will develop your skills in problem solving and research enquiry, communication, information searching, conceptualisation, and autonomy. |
| Quantum Optics and Information Theory | 15 Credits | Optional |
| Quantum optics and modern quantum optical experiments have played a central role in the conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics and in its modern applications.
This module will provide you with a basic theoretical understanding of quantum optics, computational skills for problem solving, and the opportunity to research the topics under study. Coverage will include the quantisation of the radiation field, optical tests of quantum mechanics, the emission and absorption of radiation by atoms, and aspects of quantum entanglement and quantum information theory.
The module develops skills in research enquiry and problem solving, analysis and evaluation, scientific writing and information searching. |
| Lagrangian Dynamics | 15 Credits | Optional |
| This module introduces the powerful mathematics used in the study of dynamical systems. We start with the calculus of variations, a topic which deals with "extremisation" questions in geometry, e.g. "What shape does a soap-film form?", or "What curve is formed by a heavy chain hanging under its own weight?". These techniques can be applied to mechanical systems, and it turns out that the laws of motion themselves arise from extremising some quantity – the "action". This Lagrangian perspective gives a powerful way to compute a system's equations of motion and to understand its symmetries. Finally the module describes how the Hamiltonian formalism reduces these second order equations to first-order, and in so doing introduces the concept of phase space while touching on the rich topic of symplectic geometry.
The module develops skills in research enquiry and problem solving, analysis and evaluation, and conceptualisation and critical thinking. |
| Applied Photonics | 15 Credits | Optional |
| Photonics is an important, modern high-tech industry with applications in optical communication, computing and information-storage, and medical imaging/detectors. Learn about photonics starting from image formation and aberrations, study lasers and other light emitting devices, and investigate current applications in photonics research fields, in lecture, laboratory and workshop settings.
In this module you will develop your skills in research enquiry and problem solving, analysis and evaluation, team and organisational working, interpersonal and communication skills. |
