University Notes

My lecture notes, from MSci Physics with Particle Physics and Cosmology at the University of Birmingham.

Warning

These are nothing but my own personal lecture notes, I've made the repository public on the off-chance they're ever useful to anyone else, but I make no guarantees about the accuracy of anything in them. I do my best for my own sake to keep them accurate, but no promises... Feel free to email me with feedback though!

Modules Covered

Some modules (i.e. Quantum Mechanics and Optics and Waves in Y1S1) are grouped into a single module administratively, but are taught as two distinct modules. I treat them as if they were two separate modules for easy of finding notes.

Year 1 Semester 1 (Combined Notes): Sept 2025 - Dec 2025

• LC Quantum Mechanics and Optics and Waves
• LC Classical Mechanics and Relativity 1
• LC Introduction to Probability and Statistics

Maths 1A not included due to the quality of provided lecture notes making my own irrelevant.

Year 1 Semester 2 (Combined Notes): Jan 2026 - March 2026

• LC Electromagnetism and Temperature and Matter
• LC Mathematics for Physicists 1B
• LC Classical Mechanics and Relativity 2
• LC Electric Circuits
• LC Introduction to Particle Physics and Cosmology

Folder Structure

• source_notes contains raw latex files and assets, grouped by semester and module.
• compiled_notes contains the final PDF versions.
• scripts has a collection of Python scripts for the management of lectures, this is mostly:
  • generate_main.py, which runs as a Git hook on commit to delete the temporary compilations (main.pdf) created for live viewing by VSCode's LaTeX Workshop extension and generate final PDFs for each module in the active semester.
  • rofi scripts to provide a UI for selecting a module (reflected in source_notes/active_module as a symlink) and accessing a given lecture faster than it would be to open with VSCode and enter boilerplate LaTeX manually. This also provides a window with compilation options for the temporary main.pdf, i.e. include all lectures, include only the current lecture etc.

The contents of scripts are derived from Gilles Castel's work, as detailed in his blog. His scripts have, however, been heavily adapted and modified to suit my workflow.