Last Modified: February 11, 2002

PHYS 6107 POLICIES

    Please, read the following text carefully. It describes policies which will be strictly enforced during the course.

  Important note:

    Please have mercy on the grader and the instructor (and yourself) and make your solutions neat, concise, and intelligible. Solutions which fail to do this, may be marked down, even though they might be ostensibly ``correct". Recording you thoughts is an important part of your graduate education and future career! If the instructor cannot follow your, it is highly probable that you won't be able to decipher your own records after some time! Remember, that in grading of this course your way of thinking is much more important than algebraically correct final answer.

  ACADEMIC HONESTY

     The policy on academic honesty as stated in the GIT Honor Code will be fully enforced during this course.

     It is expected that students in PHYS 6107 will maintain the highest standards of academic honesty.

    With respect to homework assignments, it is expected that no student will turn in work that is not his or her own. This prohibition includes copying the work of another student and using the solutions of problems in this course assigned in previous years. Discussion of approaches to solving the homework problems, however, is encouraged!

    It is expected that during a test or examination, no student will:

  1. accept, distribute, or use information of any kind from other students;
  2. represent the work of another student as his or her own;
  3. use aids to memory other than those explicitly permitted by the examiner;
  4. attempt to deceive faculty or graders by misrepresenting or altering the answer to an exam question following a test or exam;
  5. knowingly obtain access to any exam questions in advance of a test or exam.

      Departures from the above standards are contrary to fundamental principles of academic honesty at Georgia Tech and the larger scientific community. Such departures are considered serious offenses for which disciplinary penalties, including suspension and expulsion, can be imposed.

  HOMEWORK

    Problem sets (~6) will be assigned on approximately biweekly. The problem sets will be due in two weeks; due dates will be indicated on both the cover sheet and the web site. Afterwards, the problem set receives half credit up until one week after the due date. Problems later than that will not be graded although adjustments for missed homework due to prearranged absences will be made in the final grades. After a problem set is graded, solutions will be posted on the web site in the PDF and PostScript formats.

    Students are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to discuss the homework problems with other students, and to work TOGETHER on their solution. However, solutions must be written up individually - do not simply copy your collaborator's solutions verbatim (this will be considered a form of plagiarism). I am happy to discuss the problems and give hints, but you may learn more from your fellow students! Most physics is done in collaborations, and this will give you practice in working in a collaborative setting, something expected by most potential employers of physicists.

  EXAMS

There will be two examinations:

  1. Take-home midterm - a 48 hour open-book exam. You are supposed to do this exam by yourself; no discussions with your classmates are allowed. This exam will be rather bulky.
  2. Final - a 3 hour exam. I prefer the format when students are allowed to use their own lecture notes, handouts, homework problem sets with solutions, and calculators. However, we will take a poll in early April and see whether you want to chose a closed-book format, similar to that of the comprehensive exam.

  ATTENDANCE

    The students taking this class, especially graduate students, are presumed to be willing to become professional scientists or engineers. Understanding Statistical Mechanics is an important step in the search for the "Big Picture". I realize that students' learning methods might be different - some people can learn from books, while some simply cannot stand my lecturing style. For better or worse, I am not going to keep any written track of student attendance and it will not affect the final grade.

  PROJECT (OPTIONAL)

    It is recommended that you chose a project from the list, which will be provided by Prof. Marchenkov approximately 1/2 way through the semester; however, you can chose a topic by yourself. You will be allowed to work on projects either individually or in groups up to three people. In the latter case you must note of your collaborators (just as if you were writing a scientific paper). However, each project must be written up individually. You must submit the abstract of the project, including the list of collaborators, and get the approval of Prof. Marchenkov before March 31, 2002. Submission by e-mail is strongly encouraged!

  GRADING

    There will be no attempt to fit grades into a certain distribution. Each student will be graded individually based solely on performance in several areas:

    

The homework and the exams will be medium difficulty. Therefore, the threshold for grades (without the project) will be relatively low:

    All questions about you grades should be resolved with Prof. Marchenkov.
    

    Good luck!