These are the notes I’ve taken while learning physics. They’re very compact and don’t usually correspond closely with any particular course; instead they’re packed full of all the neat things I’ve found reading books. Currently they weigh in at about 1,500 pages and 600,000 words.

Basics

These notes summarize foundational material. They roughly cover both the MIT undergraduate sequence and Part I and II of the Cambridge physics sequence.

• Undergraduate Physics
• Undergraduate Math
• Geometry and Topology

Breadth

These notes give a little bit of background on a wide variety of fields, and are aimed at the late undergraduate level.

• Astrophysics
• Quantum Computation
• Atomic and Optical Physics
• Solid State Physics
• Condensed Matter

Depth

These notes focus on my own field of particle physics, following courses taught at Cambridge’s Part III and Oxford’s MMathPhys.

• Group Theory
• Statistical Field Theory
• General Relativity
• Quantum Field Theory
• The Standard Model
• Supersymmetry
• Anyons
• Cosmology
• String Theory
• Conformal Field Theory

I offer tutoring for the USA Physics Olympiad (USAPhO) and the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). I competed at the IPhO in 2012 and 2013 and taught at the US Physics Team training camp in 2015 through 2017.

The tutoring program is designed for students aiming for gold medals at the USAPhO or IPhO. It is based on learning by problem solving. During the training, students receive weekly handouts containing about 30 questions, which are discussed at an online meeting. At the end of the year, there are also several graded practice USAPhOs and review sessions. Most of the learning is self-driven: rather than lecturing at you, I will typically give a short introduction to each problem set and refer you to relevant textbook chapters to read on your own.

The full curriculum is about 30 weeks long, though students can choose any subset or order they wish. The typical time commitment is 8–15 hours per week. For details, see the syllabus.

The tutoring program is pitched at a high level; for context, see the problem sets for Mechanics IV and Electromagnetism V. I expect students to be comfortable with calculus-based mechanics and electromagnetism, and with qualifying for the USAPhO. For more introductory training, you can ask me to refer you to another tutor, or consider the PhysicsWOOT program by Art of Problem Solving. Another good resource is Physics (5th edition) by Halliday, Resnick, and Krane.

I’ve already taken students for the 2019–2020 program, which will run until March. If you’d like to be considered anyway, you can fill out an application, but you’ll only get a spot if somebody else drops out. For logistical details, such as how to apply, see the FAQ.

Learning

A lot of people ask me for advice for learning physics or preparing for the F=ma and USAPhO exams. Here’s a summary of what I know.

• Learning Introductory Physics. A FAQ for high school students who want to start learning physics or taking part in physics competitions.
• After Introductory Physics. Some advice for self-taught high school students on what to learn after mastering the basics.

Expository

Below are some expository works on physics, at both the popular and technical level.

• Cosmological Relaxation. A dissertation written for the Oxford MSc in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics, covering models that “relax” the Higgs boson’s mass. Also contains musings on model building and the precise meaning of naturalness and fine-tuning.
• The Meaning of Nothing. The New College Demuth prize essay, on how theoretical stories map onto reality, and why a physicist’s philosophical flexibility is a useful tool.