Physics with Medical Imaging - U7UPHYMI

This year-long module covers the mathematical background required for the majority of undergraduate-level study of physics and astronomy. It will complement the material studied in other first-year physics degree modules.

The structure of the module has been designed to ease students into the level of maths required for the early stages of your degree. 

The topics covered in this module are:

• Complex numbers
• Differentiation and Taylor Series representations
• Stationary points of two-dimensional functions
• Integration techniques for functions of single and multiple variables
• Partial derivatives of functions of multiple variables
• Conic sections in plane geometry
• Fourier representation of functions and the Fourier transform
• Matrices and eigenvalue problems
• Solving first-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs)
• Solving homogeneous and inhomogeneous linear constant coefficient ODEs

In this module, you’ll develop your knowledge, understanding and problem-solving skills across several core areas of physics, including:

• classical mechanics
• relativity
• vibrations and waves
• quantum physics
• thermal physics

You’ll further explore how these theoretical principles explain a wide range of natural phenomena and examine their relevance to modern technological applications. 

This module builds on your foundation in both classical and modern physics, preparing you for more advanced topics and practical application.

In this module, you’ll continue to build your knowledge, understanding and problem-solving abilities in several core areas of physics, including:

• classical mechanics

• relativity

• vibrations and waves 

• quantum physics

• thermal physics

You’ll further explore how these theoretical principles explain a wide range of natural phenomena and examine their relevance to modern technological applications. 

This module builds on your foundation in both classical and modern physics, preparing you for more advanced topics and practical applications. 

New physical laws are discovered, and the consequences of known laws are understood through three main approaches: experimental, computational, and mathematical. This module provides a clear introduction to these methods. This module focuses on experimental and computational physics, along with concepts common to all three approaches.

In the experimental part of the module, you will carry out, record, and report on experiments, developing essential skills and learning standard experimental techniques.

The computational strand introduces you to Python programming for simulating physical models, analysing data and creating visualisations. The discovery strand ties everything together. You will use computational tools to analyse experimental and simulation data, assess and reduce random errors, and learn to communicate your findings clearly in a scientific style.

In this module, you’ll develop essential professional skills for a career in physics. You will focus on:

• professional communication

• teamworking

• professional behaviour and reflective practice

• academic integrity and ethics

• giving, receiving and reflecting on feedback

• equity, diversity and inclusion in physics

Through a series of activities, you’ll explore specialised areas of physics that you’ll study later in the programme, along with broader topics such as sustainability. You will also gain an understanding of how your degree is structured, the research that underpins it and the wide range of career paths available to physicists.

This module begins by developing the mathematical tools needed to describe classical fields, focusing on vector calculus. You will then explore the behaviour of static electric and magnetic fields, their sources, and their effects on charged particles.

The module progresses to dynamic situations where electric and magnetic fields interact, leading to the unified framework of Maxwell’s equations. You will see how these equations describe electromagnetic waves in empty space and apply this understanding to key concepts in optics.

Finally, the module introduces how electromagnetic fields behave in dielectric and magnetic materials, providing a foundation for further study in electromagnetism and optics.

This module builds on Investigations in Physics 1 and follows a similar structure, now focusing on mathematical, computational and discovery skills.

The mathematical aspect expands on techniques from the Mathematical Methods and Modelling for Physicists module. You will learn new methods for modelling physical systems, applying these to specific examples and exploring how models can be tested.

The computational part develops your coding skills further, covering data handling, analysis and modelling. You will work with more advanced data structures, algorithms, library functions, and learn modular design and code integration.

The discovery strand strengthens your abilities in data analysis, introducing more advanced hypothesis testing. You will also refine your skills in scientific report writing and presenting results effectively.

In the first semester of this module, you'll participate in a series of lectures, workshops, and practical classes. Some sessions will build on the "Discovery" strand from Investigations in Physics I and II, while others will provide training on various computational techniques relevant to the offered projects. This foundational training will prepare you for the hands-on work to come.

During the second semester, you'll work in pairs on a computational project chosen from a published list. By the end of the module, you'll have successfully used advanced computational techniques and developed a broader knowledge of computational physics, including recent developments from current literature. You'll also enhance your independent learning skills and further develop your investigative abilities by designing and conducting a computational study, analysing its results, and drawing critical conclusions. This module will prepare you for a career in computational physics, equipping you with practical experience and a deep understanding of the field.

This module provides comprehensive training in three key areas: communicating science in different formats and for various audiences, working effectively in teams and applying practical problem-solving strategies.

You will have the opportunity to practice these skills in a range of settings, including synoptic tasks that integrate knowledge from across the core physics modules.

This module provides an introduction to the theory and elementary applications of quantum mechanics, a theory that is one of the key achievements of physics. Quantum mechanics is an elegant theoretical construct that is both beautiful and mysterious. Some of the predictions of quantum mechanics are wholly counter-intuitive and there are aspects of it that are not properly understood. Nonetheless, it has been thoroughly tested empirically for nearly a century and, wherever predictions can be made, they agree with experiment.

The notes, videos, and simulations for the first semester of The Quantum World are all publicly available and freely accessible. Check out the notes online, which include embedded links to the videos and interactive simulations.

You’ll study:

• Quantum vs classical states
• Fourier series and transforms: translating from position to momentum space
• The Heisenberg uncertainty principle (particularly from a Fourier perspective)
• The time-dependent and time-independent Schrödinger equation
• Bound and unbound states, scattering and tunnelling
• Wavepackets
• The subtleties of the particle in a box
• Operators, observables, and the thorny measurement problem
• Matrix mechanics and Dirac notation
• The quantum harmonic oscillator
• Conservation and correspondence principles
• Angular momentum
• Stern-Gerlach experiment
• Spin
• Zeeman effect, Rabi oscillations
• 2D and 3D systems
• Degeneracies
• Hydrogen atom and the radial Schrödinger equation
• Entanglement and non-locality
• ... and, of course, that ever-frustrating feline...

This module explores how electrical currents enable communication within the body. You will learn the biological processes in nerve cells that allow electrical signalling, as well as how the ear converts sound and the eye converts light into electrical signals. The module also covers how the heart uses electrical activity to pump blood and how muscles function.

Building on this, you will study how electrical signals from the heart, muscles, and brain can be measured and interpreted through surface recordings. The module also introduces magnetoencephalography (MEG), explaining how tiny magnetic fields generated by electrical currents in the brain can be detected, and the physical design of sensors and specialised rooms required for these measurements.

This module explores the properties of matter across a wide range of scales, covering nuclear and particle physics, atomic physics, and solid state physics.

The focus will be on key concepts and models essential for understanding behaviour at each scale. You will also learn how quantum and statistical physics methods are applied to determine material properties, from microscopic systems to macroscopic bodies.

This module begins by exploring the techniques for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS). In the first semester, it covers the classical description of MRI, focusing on how images with contrast are generated to assess structure and function in the body for clinical diagnoses.

In the second semester, the module delves deeper into the physics of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and MRI, presenting a quantum description of the technique and examining the clinical applications of MRS. It then shifts to other imaging methods commonly used in hospitals, including ultrasound and optical coherence tomography (OCT). For each technique, you will learn about the transmitters, detectors and safety considerations involved.

You will build on what you learnt during Investigations in Physics I and II, as well as learning new topics important for investigation in medical physics using computational methods.

You will then apply this knowledge in a project. You will work in pairs and use the techniques learnt

You will then have the opportunity to apply this knowledge by working in pairs to carry out a project using some of these techniques.

You will carry out a project drawn from one of several areas of physics. The project may be experimental or theoretical in nature. Many of the projects reflect the research interests of members of academic staff. You will work in pairs and are expected to produce a plan of work and to identify realistic goals for your project. Each pair has a project supervisor responsible for setting the project. You will also be required to maintain a diary/laboratory notebook throughout.

Occasionally the work from these projects is used in scientific publications, and the students involved are named as authors on those publications.

Depending upon the type of project that you decide to do, you will design and carry out your own experiments, theoretical calculations or computational work and use them to generate what are often new and interesting results. The project culminates in your writing a scientific report which is submitted for assessment along with your laboratory notebook.

Modern science is data rich. For example, it’s not uncommon for a single experiment to generate terabytes, or even petabytes of data. As scientists, one of the major challenges we face is to collapse these vast data archives into meaningful information that we can understand, and use to draw conclusions.

In this module, you will learn the critical mathematical techniques that are used to do this. We will cover techniques from simple image processing, all the way to advanced blind source separation and machine learning. You will then put these techniques into practice, in a data processing project that may range from satellite imaging to measuring the amount of information stored by the human brain.

This module offers you the opportunity to conduct an in-depth research project in an advanced area of medical physics, allowing you to demonstrate your ability as an independent investigator.

Each project begins with clear objectives but remains open-ended, encouraging exploration throughout the year. You will start by reviewing scientific literature to write a review article, followed by developing a detailed project proposal. As part of a peer review panel, you will assess and rank proposals, gaining real-world experience in the research process.

At the end of the project, you will submit a substantial report (up to 7,500 words) summarising your findings and analysis.