The four-year Integrated Masters course in Physics is part of the Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) and is designed for students interested in careers in physics, including academic and industrial research. The programme leads to both a Master of Natural Sciences (M.Sci.) and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) honours degree. The first three years also form a stand-alone B.A. course, making it suitable for students with a strong interest in physics who may choose careers beyond professional research. Students decide at the end of Year 3 whether to graduate with the B.A. or continue into the fourth-year M.Sci. programme.
The courses listed below reflect the Physics Tripos teaching offered in the 2025–26 academic year and provide an overview of the breadth of undergraduate physics teaching at the Cavendish Laboratory, spanning theoretical, experimental, computational, and interdisciplinary topics. Please note that course offerings and content may evolve from year to year, and inclusion here does not guarantee that a course will be offered in future years.
Scroll below to explore the courses offered in Part IA (Year 1), Part IB (Year 2), Part II (Year 3), and Part III (Year 4). Click on each course (＋) to view more details.
The first year introduces the fundamental principles that underpin modern physics, including mechanics, waves, fields, relativity, and early quantum physics. Alongside developing mathematical fluency and physical intuition, students begin laboratory work and learn how theoretical ideas are tested experimentally. Teaching is primarily through lecture courses and practical classes, complemented by small-group supervisions. As part of the Natural Sciences Tripos, students combine Physics with Mathematics and additional science subjects, allowing both breadth and flexibility in the first year.
Type: Lecture
Description: Introduces Newtonian mechanics as a framework for describing motion, including kinematics, forces, energy, and momentum conservation. The course develops problem-solving skills in one- and two-body systems and establishes the foundations for later analytical mechanics.
Type: Lecture
Description: Extends classical mechanics to rotational motion, including angular momentum, rigid bodies, and torque, before introducing the principles of special relativity. Concepts such as time dilation, length contraction, and spacetime structure are developed to describe motion at high velocities.
Type: Lecture
Description: Develops the theory of oscillations, starting from simple harmonic motion and extending to damped and driven systems. The course introduces resonance, phase behaviour, and energy dissipation, which are central to many physical systems across physics and engineering.
Type: Lecture
Description: Provides a first introduction to field theory through Newtonian gravity and electrostatics, including potentials, field lines, and inverse-square laws. The course builds intuition for how forces can be described as fields, preparing the ground for e.g. Maxwell’s equations in later years.
Type: Practical
Description: Develops core laboratory skills including measurement techniques, error analysis, data handling, and scientific reporting. Students gain hands-on experience with a range of experiments, learning how to compare data with theoretical expectations.
The second year develops the full theoretical and experimental foundations of undergraduate physics. Students encounter the major frameworks of modern physics in a more formal way, including quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, condensed matter physics, optics, and analytical mechanics. The year combines lecture courses, laboratory work, computing, and research-skills training, with increasing emphasis on mathematical methods and independent problem solving.
Type: Lecture
Description: Introduces modern experimental techniques, including signal processing, electronics, and data analysis techniques. The course emphasises how measurements are designed, calibrated, and interpreted in real experimental settings.
Type: Lecture
Description: Extends wave physics to include optical phenomena such as interference, diffraction, and imaging systems. It develops a deeper understanding of wave propagation in dispersive media and introduces the foundations of modern optics.
Type: Lecture
Description: Introduces the formal framework of quantum mechanics, including the Schrödinger equation, operators, eigenstates, and measurement theory. Applications include simple atomic systems, tunnelling, and quantised energy levels.
Type: Lecture
Description: Introduces the behaviour of electrons in solids, introducing crystal structure, band theory, and transport properties. The course connects microscopic quantum physics and quantum statistics to macroscopic properties such as conductivity and heat capacity.
Type: Lecture
Description: Provides the mathematical tools required across theoretical physics, including vector calculus, differential equations, complex analysis, and linear algebra. Emphasis is placed on applying these methods to physical problems. This course is intended for students not taking NST IB Mathematics.
Type: Skills
Description: Develops key academic skills including scientific writing, presentation, literature search, and critical reading. The course prepares students for research-style work and communication in later years.
Type: Practical
Description: Builds on Part IA laboratory work by introducing more complex experiments and greater independence in design and analysis. Students develop deeper understanding of uncertainty, instrumentation, and experimental methodology.
Type: Lecture
Description: Develops Maxwell’s equations and their implications for electric and magnetic fields, electromagnetic waves, and radiation. The course unifies earlier electrostatics and magnetism into a single theoretical framework.
Type: Lecture
Description: Reformulates mechanics using Lagrangian and variational principles, providing a more general and powerful framework than Newtonian mechanics. Applications include constrained systems, oscillations, and an introduction to fluid dynamics.
Type: Lecture
Description: Introduces the laws of thermodynamics, entropy, and the connection between macroscopic behaviour and microscopic motion. The course includes kinetic theory and lays the groundwork for statistical mechanics.
Type: Lecture
Description: Teaches programming (typically in Python) and numerical methods for solving physical problems. Students learn algorithmic thinking, simulation techniques, and basic data analysis relevant to modern physics.
Type: Practical
Description: Provides continued experimental training with increasing emphasis on independent analysis and interpretation. Students are expected to engage more critically with experimental design and results.
Part II completes the core undergraduate physics curriculum while allowing students to begin specialising in areas of particular interest. All students take advanced core courses in quantum physics, relativity, electrodynamics, statistical mechanics, and computational physics, alongside a choice of option courses spanning astrophysics, particle physics, condensed matter, optics, and soft matter. In addition to lecture courses, students undertake “Further Work”, which includes experimental projects, computational projects, theoretical physics courses, research reviews, and physics education. These components emphasise research-style thinking, independent analysis, and open-ended problem solving, preparing students for professional research or a wide range of careers.
Type: Lecture (Core)
Description: Develops quantum mechanics beyond the Part IB course by revisiting core principles in greater depth and introducing a wider range of methods and applications. Topics include angular momentum and spin, perturbation theory, symmetries and conservation laws, identical particles, atomic and molecular structure, scattering and time-dependent perturbations, and an introduction to field quantisation through the electromagnetic field.
Type: Lecture (Core)
Description: Introduces the Python scientific stack and the core numerical methods used in modern computational physics. Students learn to implement and analyse algorithms involving floating-point computation, differential equations, Monte Carlo techniques, linear algebra, Fourier methods, and computational complexity, gaining practical skills that support both theoretical and data-driven physics.
Type: Lecture (Core)
Description: Builds a quantitative understanding of classical and relativistic electrodynamics, starting from Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves and extending to (partial) coherence, polarization, optics in media, and interferometry. It also covers vector potentials, gauge choice, radiation from accelerated charges, scattering, antennas, and relativistic electrodynamics, showing how electromagnetism is naturally consistent with special relativity and underpins modern photonics and high-energy applications.
Type: Lecture (Core)
Description: Provides a unified introduction to special and general relativity, beginning with the failure of Newtonian gravity and the equivalence principle, and building up the mathematical language of manifolds, tensors, geodesics, and curvature. The course develops Einstein’s field equations and applies them to Schwarzschild spacetime, relativistic fluids, cosmology through the Friedmann–Robertson–Walker metric, and classic tests of general relativity, with linearised gravity and gravitational waves included as an advanced extension.
Type: Lecture (Core)
Description: Establishes the microscopic foundations of thermodynamics by introducing the statistical description of many-particle systems through the standard ensembles. The course connects entropy, fluctuations, and equilibrium behaviour to macroscopic observables and provides the conceptual basis for phase transitions, collective phenomena, and many-body physics in later courses.
Type: Lecture (Option)
Description: Extends earlier optics teaching into modern optical science, combining geometric and wave optics with nonlinear optics, lasers, microscopy, fibre optics, and quantum optics. The course covers optical instruments, coherence and interferometry, active optical components, resonators and Gaussian beams, and quantum phenomena such as field quantisation, coherent states, cavity QED, squeezing, entanglement, and quantum interference effects relevant to imaging, metrology, and quantum technologies.
Type: Lecture (Option)
Description: Introduces the physical processes that govern the Universe on the largest scales, connecting cosmology, galaxy formation, and the evolution of structure. The course links observational evidence to theoretical models of cosmic expansion, dark matter, baryonic processes, and the growth of galaxies and large-scale structure, providing an astrophysical complement to the core relativity and statistical physics courses.
Type: Lecture (Option)
Description: Applies fluid dynamics to the diverse environments found in astrophysics, from stellar interiors and interstellar gas to accretion discs, jets, and galaxy-scale flows. Topics include hydrostatic equilibrium, equations of state, sound waves, shocks, Bernoulli flows, gravitational collapse, Jeans instability, viscous accretion discs, and an introduction to magnetohydrodynamics, with emphasis on the physical processes that shape stars, galaxies, and compact objects.
Type: Lecture (Option)
Description: Introduces the elementary particles, forces, and symmetries of the Standard Model together with the basic structure and dynamics of atomic nuclei. The course covers relativistic kinematics, decays and scattering, gauge interactions, quarks and hadrons, QED, QCD, weak and electroweak interactions, Higgs physics, and physics beyond the Standard Model, alongside nuclear models, nuclear decays, scattering, fission, fusion, and nucleosynthesis.
Type: Lecture (Option)
Description: Provides a broad introduction to condensed matter physics with emphasis on the quantum behaviour of electrons and lattices in solids. Topics include transport models, crystal structure, phonons, band theory, semiconductors and devices, experimental probes such as ARPES and STM, electronic instabilities including magnetism, and Fermi liquid theory, giving students a conceptual bridge from basic solid-state physics to modern many-body and materials physics.
Type: Lecture (Option)
Description: Examines the physics of complex materials such as polymers, colloids, gels, liquid crystals, and biological soft matter, where thermal fluctuations and mesoscopic structure play a central role. The course emphasises statistical-mechanical ideas, self-assembly, elasticity, dynamics, and emergent collective behaviour in systems that are often disordered and far from the crystalline paradigm of traditional condensed matter.
Type: Further Work
Description: Offers short research-style laboratory projects in which students undertake a more open-ended experimental investigation than in earlier years. The emphasis is on planning, measurement strategy, instrumentation, uncertainty analysis, interpretation of results, and the development of independent experimental judgement.
Type: Further Work
Description: Provide advanced training in theoretical physics, covering classical dynamics and field theory (Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods, symmetries and Noether’s theorem, spontaneous symmetry breaking, and applications to statistical physics) as well as modern quantum theory (scattering theory, path integrals, decoherence and second quantisation). Students are introduced to key analytical tools such as canonical methods, Green’s functions, and relativistic quantum mechanics. The course emphasises derivation, abstraction, and physical interpretation, preparing students for mathematically challenging Part III topics such as quantum field theory and quantum many-body physics.
Type: Further Work
Description: Involves a larger-scale computational investigation in which students build and analyse numerical models of a physical system or process. It develops research-style programming, algorithmic thinking, verification and interpretation of numerical results, and clear scientific presentation of computational work.
Type: Further Work
Description: Trains students to investigate a specialised topic by reading, synthesising, and critically evaluating the scientific literature. The course develops independent scholarship, scientific judgement, and the ability to communicate complex material clearly in a structured written review.
Type: Further Work
Description: Introduces students to the communication and teaching of physics, including how concepts are explained, understood, and assessed in educational settings. It develops reflective and practical skills relevant to supervision, outreach, pedagogy, and the broader public communication of physics.
Type: Further Work
Description: Practical implementation of numerical methods using Python and scientific libraries through structured problem sets.
Part III Physics is a research-focused Master’s-level year designed to bring students close to the frontiers of modern physics. Students construct an individual programme by choosing from a wide range of Major Topics, Minor Topics, interdisciplinary courses, and a substantial independent research project. The course structure allows students to specialise in areas such as astrophysics, quantum matter, particle physics, biological physics, climate physics, or quantum technologies, while also developing advanced analytical, computational, and research skills. The research project forms a major component of the year and is typically carried out within one of the Department’s research groups or associated institutes.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Develops microscopic theory of interacting electron systems, including many-body methods, quasiparticles, superconductivity, transport, and electron–phonon interactions.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Explores atom–light interactions, laser cooling, Bose–Einstein condensation, and precision quantum measurements linking experiment and theory.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Applies statistical physics and dynamical systems to biological processes such as gene regulation, molecular motors, neural dynamics, and cellular organisation.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Covers the Standard Model, gauge theories, symmetries, and experimental probes of fundamental particles and interactions.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Uses continuum mechanics and geophysics to understand Earth’s structure, plate tectonics, seismology, and thermal evolution.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Introduces relativistic quantum fields, Feynman diagrams, and perturbation theory as a framework for describing particle interactions and many-body systems. Borrowed from Part III Mathematics Tripos.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Applies general relativity to astrophysical systems, covering compact objects, black holes, cosmology, and structure formation.
Type: Major Topic
Description: Introduces several quantum many-body models and theories to describe emergent phenomena in condensed matter systems.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Develops the full formalism of relativistic quantum field theory, including functional integrals, renormalisation, gauge theories, BRST symmetry, and asymptotic freedom, forming the foundation of the Standard Model and modern theoretical physics. Borrowed from Part III Mathematics Tripos.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Explores gauge symmetry, field quantisation, and applications to particle physics and condensed matter systems.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Examines atmospheric composition and photochemical processes, including ozone chemistry, aerosols, and greenhouse gases, and their coupling to climate dynamics and radiative forcing.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Provides a systems-level understanding of climate variability and change, using geological records and physical modelling to interpret past and future climate evolution.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Covers the physics of energy systems including thermodynamic limits, solar cells, batteries, hydrogen storage, and renewable energy technologies.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Develops skills in innovation, startup development, market analysis, sustainability, and translating physics research into real-world applications.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Applies physical principles to medical imaging, radiation therapy, and diagnostic technologies.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Covers nuclear reactor physics, fuel cycles, safety, and energy production technologies. Borrowed from Part IIb Engineering.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Studies critical phenomena, scaling, and universality in statistical physics systems.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Investigates electronic transport and quantum effects in nanoscale devices and low-dimensional systems.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Explores the foundations and interpretations of quantum mechanics and introduces concepts of quantum computation, algorithms, and information processing.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Explores quantum entanglement, information processing, and quantum computation, linking fundamental quantum mechanics with emerging technologies. Borrowed from Part III Mathematics Tripos.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Focuses on precision measurements and quantum-enhanced sensing and computational methods.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Studies engineered quantum systems used to simulate complex many-body physics.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Explores superconductivity, coherence phenomena, and quantum devices such as Josephson junctions.
Type: Minor Topic
Description: Studies phases of matter characterised by topology rather than symmetry, including edge states, topological insulators, and quantum Hall systems. Borrowed from Part III Mathematics Tripos.
Type: Project
Description: Independent research project forming a major part of the final year, involving original investigation within a research group.