Prelim Exams & Solutions

This page contains previous classical and quantum/statistical mechanics PhD qualifying exams from the UConn physics department and my corresponding solutions. I developed most of these solutions with the help of fellow graduate student, Ryan Carollo, while studying for the exams. Ryan also had a role in creating these pdf files using Latex. Also, some additional solutions were written by fellow graduate student William Zimmerman. Incidentally, it should be noted that both authors passed both exams on the first try.

Eventually, I would like to have these files available for editing by any physics graduate student at UConn so that more solutions can be appended and errors can be corrected; the solutions will become progressively better with time. These solutions are undoubtedly riddled with errors (mathematical, typos, and otherwise), so please send any corrections, comments, and additional solutions to rcrudo@gmail.com.

Also, there are some problems or parts of problems that may be missing. This can be attributed to any one or more of these reasons:

i) We ran out of time
ii) We strategically selected problems while taking the exam as if it was a real prelim, i.e. choosing six problems out of the eight
iii) We were unable to obtain a satisfactory answer
iv) We didn't know how to start the problem

I make no distinction between any of these reasons in my solutions, so if you notice a problem is missing, please send me solutions.

DISCLAIMER:

This website is not officially affiliated with the University of Connecticut Physics Department and that the department is not responsible for any errors that might exist in my solutions. We cannot guarantee that all solutions are correct and/or complete, or that they exactly agree with what the authors of the exams envisioned. However, I am confident that the majority of the solutions posed are accurate enough so that at the very least, they serve as a useful study guide.

It is obviously advisable to work through the problems before looking at the solutions. You'll learn nothing from following solutions without trying the problem yourself. Also, most problems can be worked in a number of ways, so it's probable that these solutions are not the only ones and/or the best ones. Other methods might be more suitable for your particular way of thinking.

Good luck on your prelim!