{"id":96897,"date":"2021-03-20T19:11:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-20T13:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?page_id=96897"},"modified":"2023-10-26T16:29:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T10:59:48","slug":"upsc-syllabus-for-physics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/upsc-syllabus\/upsc-syllabus-for-physics\/","title":{"rendered":"Physics Optional UPSC Syllabus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Physics Optional-UPSC Syllabus<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

PAPER-I<\/h5>\n

1. (a) Mechanics of Particles :<\/strong>
\nLaws of motion; conservation of energy and momentum, applications to rotating frames,
\ncentripetal and Coriolis accelerations; Motion under a central force; Conservation of angular
\nmomentum, Kepler\u2019s laws; Fields and potentials; Gravitational field and potential due to spherical
\nbodies, Gauss and Poisson equations, gravitational self-energy; Two-body problem; Reduced mass;
\nRutherford scattering; Centre of mass and laboratory reference frames.
\n(b) Mechanics of Rigid Bodies :<\/strong>
\nSystem of particles; Centre of mass, angular momentum, equations of motion; Conservation
\ntheorems for energy, momentum and angular momentum; Elastic and inelastic collisions; Rigid
\nBody; Degrees of freedom, Euler\u2019s theorem, angular velocity, angular momentum, moments of
\ninertia, theorems of parallel and perpendicular axes, equation of motion for rotation; Molecular
\nrotations (as rigid bodies); Di and tri-atomic molecules; Precessional motion; top, gyroscope.
\n(c) Mechanics of Continuous Media :<\/strong>
\nElasticity, Hooke\u2019s law and elastic constants of isotropic solids and their inter-relation;
\nStreamline (Laminar) flow, viscosity, Poiseuille\u2019s equation, Bernoulli\u2019s equation, Stokes\u2019 law and
\napplications.
\n(d) Special Relativity :<\/strong>
\nMichelson-Morely experiment and its implications; Lorentz transformations length
\ncontraction, time dilation, addition of relativistic velocities, aberration and Doppler effect,
\nmass-energy relation, simple applications to a decay process. Four dimensional momentum
\nvector; Covariance of equations of physics.<\/p>\n

2. Waves and Optics :<\/strong>
\n(a) Waves :<\/strong>
\nSimple harmonic motion, damped oscillation, forced oscillation and resonance; Beats;
\nStationary waves in a string; Pulses and wave packets; Phase and group velocities; Reflection and
\nrefraction from Huygens\u2019 principle.
\n(b) Geometrial Optics :<\/strong>
\nLaws of reflection and refraction from Fermat\u2019s principle; Matrix method in paraxial
\noptic-thin lens formula, nodal planes, system of two thin lenses, chromatic and spherical
\naberrations.
\n(c) Interference :<\/strong>
\nInterference of light -Young\u2019s experiment, Newton\u2019s rings, interference by thin films,
\nMichelson interferometer; Multiple beam interference and Fabry Perot interferometer.
\n(d) Diffraction :<\/strong>
\nFraunhofer diffraction – single slit, double slit, diffraction grating, resolving power; Diffraction
\nby a circular aperture and the Airy pattern; Fresnel diffraction: half-period zones and zone plates,
\ncircular aperture.
\n(e) Polarisation and Modern Optics :<\/strong>
\nProduction and detection of linearly and circularly polarized light; Double refraction,
\nquarter wave plate; Optical activity; Principles of fibre optics, attenuation; Pulse dispersion in
\nstep index and parabolic index fibres; Material dispersion, single mode fibers; Lasers-Einstein A
\nand B coefficients. Ruby and He-Ne lasers. Characteristics of laser light-spatial and temporal
\ncoherence; Focusing of laser beams. Three-level scheme for laser operation; Holography and
\nsimple applications.<\/p>\n

3. Electricity and Magnetism :<\/strong>
\n(a) Electrostatics and Magnetostatics :<\/strong>
\nLaplace and Poisson equations in electrostatics and their applications; Energy of a system of
\ncharges, multipole expansion of scalar potential; Method of images and its applications. Potential
\nand field due to a dipole, force and torque on a dipole in an external field; Dielectrics,
\npolarisation. Solutions to boundary-value problems-conducting and dielectric spheres in a
\nuniform electric field; Magnetic shell, uniformly magnetised sphere; Ferromagnetic materials,
\nhysteresis, energy loss.<\/p>\n

(b) Current Electricity :<\/strong>
\nKirchhoff’s laws and their applications. Biot-Savart law, Ampere\u2019s law, Faraday\u2019s law, Lenz\u2019 law.
\nSelf-and mutual- inductances; Mean and rms values in AC circuits; DC and AC circuits with R, L
\nand C components; Series and parallel resonance; Quality factor; Principle of transformer.<\/p>\n

4. Electromagnetic Waves and Blackbody Radiation :<\/strong>
\nDisplacement current and Maxwell\u2019s equations; Wave equations in vacuum, Poynting theorem;
\nVector and scalar potentials; Electromagnetic field tensor, covariance of Maxwell\u2019s equations;
\nWave equations in isotropic dielectrics, reflection and refraction at the boundary of two dielectrics;
\nFresnel\u2019s relations; Total internal reflection; Normal and anomalous dispersion; Rayleigh
\nscattering; Blackbody radiation and Planck \u2019s radiation law- Stefan-Boltzmann law, Wien\u2019s
\ndisplacement law and Rayleigh-Jeans law.<\/p>\n

5. Thermal and Statistical Physics :<\/strong>
\n(a) Thermodynamics :<\/strong>
\nLaws of thermodynamics, reversible and irreversible processes, entropy; Isothermal,
\nadiabatic, isobaric, isochoric processes and entropy changes; Otto and Diesel engines, Gibbs\u2019 phase
\nrule and chemical potential; Van der Waals equation of state of a real gas, critical constants;
\nMaxwell-Boltzmann distribution of molecular velocities, transport phenomena, equipartition and
\nvirial theorems; Dulong-Petit, Einstein, and Debye\u2019s theories of specific heat of solids; Maxwell
\nrelations and application; Clausius-Clapeyron equation. Adiabatic demagnetisation, Joule-Kelvin
\neffect and liquefaction of gases.
\n(b) Statistical Physics :<\/strong>
\nMacro and micro states, statistical distributions, Maxwell-Boltzmann, Bose-Einstein and
\nFermi-Dirac Distributions, applications to specific heat of gases and blackbody radiation;
\nConcept of negative temperatures.<\/p>\n

PAPER-II<\/h5>\n

1. Quantum Mechanics :<\/strong>
\nWave-particle duality; Schroedinger equation and expectation values; Uncertainty principle;
\nSolutions of the one-dimensional Schroedinger equation for free particle (Gaussian wave-packet),
\nparticle in a box, particle in a finite well, linear harmonic oscillator; Reflection and transmission by
\na step potential and by a rectangular barrier; Particle in a three dimensional box, density of states,
\nfree electron theory of metals; Angular momentum; Hydrogen atom; Spin half particles, properties
\nof Pauli spin matrices.<\/p>\n

2. Atomic and Molecular Physics :<\/strong>
\nStern-Gerlach experiment, electron spin, fine structure of hydrozen atom; L-S coupling, J-J
\ncoupling; Spectroscopic notation of atomic states; Zeeman effect; Franck-Condon principle and
\napplications; Elementary theory of rotational, vibrational and electronic spectra of diatomic
\nmolecules; Raman effect and molecular structure; Laser Raman spectroscopy; Importance of
\nneutral hydrogen atom, molecular hydrogen and molecular hydrogen ion in astronomy.
\nFluorescence and Phosphorescence; Elementary theory and applications of NMR and EPR;
\nElementary ideas about Lamb shift and its significance.<\/p>\n

3. Nuclear and Particle Physics :<\/strong>
\nBasic nuclear properties-size, binding energy, angular momentum, parity, magnetic moment;
\nSemi-empirical mass formula and applications. Mass parabolas; Ground state of a deuteron,
\nmagnetic moment and non-central forces; Meson theory of nuclear forces; Salient features of
\nnuclear forces; Shell model of the nucleus – success and limitations; Violation of parity in beta
\ndecay; Gamma decay and internal conversion; Elementary ideas about Mossbauer spectroscopy;
\nQ-value of nuclear reactions; Nuclear fission and fusion, energy production in stars. Nuclear
\nreactors.
\nClassification of elementary particles and their interactions; Conservation laws; Quark
\nstructure of hadrons : Field quanta of electroweak and strong interactions; Elementary ideas about
\nunification of forces; Physics of neutrinos.<\/p>\n

4. Solid State Physics, Devices and Electronics :<\/strong>
\nCrystalline and amorphous structure of matter; Different crystal systems, space groups;
\nMethods of determination of crystal structure; X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission
\nelectron microscopies; Band theory of solids\u2014conductors, insulators and semi-conductors;
\nThermal properties of solids, specific heat, Debye theory; Magnetism: dia, para and
\nferromagnetism; Elements of super-conductivity, Meissner effect, Josephson junctions and
\napplications; Elementary ideas about high temperature super-conductivity.
\nIntrinsic and extrinsic semi-conductors- p-n-p and n-p-n transistors; Amplifiers and
\noscillators. Op-amps; FET, JFET and MOSFET; Digital electronics-Boolean identities, De Morgan\u2019s
\nlaws, Logic gates and truth tables. Simple logic circuits; Thermistors, solar cells; Fundamentals of
\nmicroprocessors and digital computers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Physics Optional-UPSC Syllabus PAPER-I 1. (a) Mechanics of Particles : Laws of motion; conservation of energy and momentum, applications to rotating frames, centripetal and Coriolis accelerations; Motion under a central force; Conservation of angular momentum, Kepler\u2019s laws; Fields and potentials; Gravitational field and potential due to spherical bodies, Gauss and Poisson equations, gravitational self-energy; Two-body… Continue reading Physics Optional UPSC Syllabus<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"parent":50153,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-96897","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96897\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}