The B course covers a wider range of mathematical techniques of use in the physical sciences, proceeds more rapidly and at greater depth and includes a wider range of illustrative examples and non-examinable material. This, therefore may be better suited to those students who have taken double Mathematics at A-level or an equivalent qualification. Only knowledge of the core examinable material common to both the A and B courses is assumed in later years of the course. The Part IA Physics course is given in three lectures per week plus a four-hour experiment every two weeks. There is no limit on numbers and we usually have about four hundred students.
Colleges provide regular supervision on a personal basis.
Scientific subjects studied include Foundations of Classical and Statistical Physics, Oscillations and Waves, and Fields, Relativity and Quantum Physics. The first-year physics course is also available in Part IA of the Computer Sciences Tripos. There it is combined with courses in Mathematics for Natural Sciences and Computer Science plus either a second Natural Science or a second Computer Science Course. It is also possible to read Part IA Physics as part of the Mathematical Tripos in the first-year course Mathematics with Physics. Both of these routes provide for possible specialisation in physics in later years.