The UPSC offers 48 optional subjects and Physics is one of them. Physics demands a lot of logical and reasoning skills. One can take physics as an optional subject in UPSC Exam if one has pursued graduation in physics or engineering and has good command over mechanics, quantum physics, optics, thermal and statistical physics, electromagnetism, etc. For UPSC aspirants who have chosen Physics as their optional subject in the mains exam, understanding the UPSC Physics Optional Syllabus is essential. The Physics optional subject provides an opportunity for candidates to delve deeper into the concepts and theories of this fascinating discipline. 

In this article on UPSC Physics Optional Syllabus, we will look at the UPSC Physics Syllabus for Optional Papers 1 & 2 of the mains exam. So, make sure you read the article till the end.

UPSC Physics Optional Syllabus For Paper 1

Have a look at the detailed UPSC Physics Syllabus for optional paper 1 explained below.

Classical Mechanics

• Particle dynamics: Centre of mass and laboratory coordinates, conservation of linear and angular momentum
• The rocket equation. Rutherford scattering, Galilean transformation, inertial and non-inertial frames
• Rotating frames, centrifugal and Coriolis forces, Foucault pendulum
• System of particles: Constraints, degrees of freedom, generalised coordinates and momenta
• Lagrange’s equation and applications to the linear harmonic oscillator, simple pendulum and central force problems
• Cyclic coordinates, Hamiltonian Lagrange’s equation from Hamilton’s principle
• Rigid body dynamics: Eulerian angles, inertia tensor, principal moments of inertia. Euler’s equation of motion of a rigid body, the force-free motion of a rigid body. Gyroscope
• Special Relativity: Michelson-Morley experiment and its implications
• Lorentz transformations- length contraction, time dilation, the addition of velocities, aberration and Doppler effect, mass-energy relation, simple applications to a decay process
• Minkowski diagram, four-dimensional momentum vector. Covariance of equations of physics
• Waves: Simple harmonic motion, damped oscillation, forced oscillation and resonance
• Beats. Stationary waves in a string. Pulses and wave packets
• Phase and group velocities. Reflection and Refraction from Huygens’ principle
• Geometrical Optics: Laws of reflection and refraction from Fermat’s principle
• Matrix method in paraxial optic-thin lens formula, nodal planes, system of two thin lenses, chromatic and spherical aberrations

Wave & Optics

• Interference: Interference of light-Young’s experiment, Newton’s rings, interference by thin films, Michelson interferometer.
• Multiple beam interference and Fabry-Perot interferometer. Holography and simple applications
• Diffraction: Fraunhofer diffraction-single slit, double slit, diffraction grating, resolving power. Fresnel diffraction: – half-period zones and zones plates
• Fresnel integrals. Application of Cornu’s spiral to the analysis of diffraction at a straight edge and by a long narrow slit. Diffraction by a circular aperture and the Airy pattern
• Polarisation and Modern Optics: Production and detection of linearly and circularly polarised light. Double refraction, a quarter-wave plate
• Optical activity. Principles of fibre optics attenuation; pulse dispersion in step-index and parabolic index fibres; material dispersion, single-mode fibres. Lasers
• Einstein A and B coefficients. Ruby and He-Ne lasers. Characteristics of laser light-spatial and temporal coherence. Focussing on laser beams. Three-level scheme for laser operation.

Electricity and Magnetism

• Electrostatics and Magnetostatics: Laplace and Poisson equations in electrostatics and their applications
• The energy of a system of charges, the multipole expansion of scalar potential. Method of images and their applications
• Potential and field due to a dipole, force and torque on a dipole in an external field. Dielectrics, polarization. Solutions to boundary-value problems-conducting and dielectric spheres in a uniform electric field
• Magnetic shell, uniformly magnetised sphere. Ferromagnetic materials, hysteresis, energy loss
• Current Electricity: Kirchhoff’s laws and their applications. Biot-Savart law, Ampere’s law, Faraday’s law, Lenz’s law
• Self-and mutual-inductances. Mean and RMS values in AC circuits. LR CR and LCR circuits- series and parallel resonance. Quality factor. Principal of transformer

Electromagnetic Waves & Black Body Radiation

• Electromagnetic Theory: Displacement current and Maxwell’s equations. Wave equations in vacuum, Poynting theorem
• Vector and scalar potentials. Gauge invariance, Lorentz and Coulomb gauges. Electromagnetic field tensor, the covariance of Maxwell’s equations
• Wave equations in isotropic dielectrics, reflection and refraction at the boundary of two dielectrics. Fresnel’s relations
• Normal and anomalous dispersion. Rayleigh scattering. Blackbody radiation: Black body radiation and Planck radiation law- Stefan-Boltzmann law
• Wien displacement law and Rayleigh-Jeans law. Planck mass, Planck length, Planck time, Planck temperature and Planck energy

Thermal and Statistical Physics

• Thermodynamics: Laws of thermodynamics, reversible and irreversible processes, entropy. Isothermal, adiabatic, isobaric, isochoric processes and entropy change
• Otto and Diesel engines, Gibbs’ phase rule and chemical potential. Vander Waals equation of state of a real gas, critical constants.
• Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of molecular velocities, transport phenomena, equipartition and virial theorems. Dulong-Petit, Einstein, and Debye’s theories of specific heat of solids. Maxwell relations and applications.
• Clausius- Clapeyron equation. Adiabatic demagnetisation, Joule-Kelvin effect and liquefaction of gases Statistical Physics: Saha ionization formula. Bose-Einstein condensation
• Thermodynamic behaviour of an ideal Fermi gas, Chandrasekhar limit, elementary ideas about neutron stars and pulsars
• Brownian motion is a random walk, diffusion process. Concept of negative temperatures.

UPSC Physics Optional Syllabus For Paper 2

Have a look at the detailed UPSC Physics Syllabus for optional paper 2 explained below.

Quantum Mechanics 1

• Wave-particle duality. Schroedinger equation and expectation values. Uncertainty principle.
• Solutions of the one-dimensional Schroedinger equation-free particle (Gaussian wave-packet), particle in a box, particle in a finite well, linear harmonic oscillator
• Reflection and transmission by a potential step and by a rectangular barrier. Use of WKB formula for the lifetime calculation in the alpha-decay problem.

Quantum Mechanics 2

• Quantum Mechanics II: Particle in a three-dimensional box, the density of states, free electron theory of metals
• The angular momentum problem. The hydrogen atom. The spin half problem and properties of Pauli spin matrices
• Atomic Physics: Stern-Gerlach experiment, electron spin, the fine structure of hydrogen atoms. L-S coupling, J-J coupling
• Spectroscopic notation of atomic states. Zeeman effect. Frank-Condon principle and applications.

Molecular Physics

• Elementary theory of rotational, vibrational and electronic spectra of diatomic molecules. Raman effect and molecular structure
• Laser Raman spectroscopy Importance of neutral hydrogen atom, molecular hydrogen and molecular hydrogen ion in astronomy Fluorescence and Phosphorescence
• Elementary theory and applications of NMR. Elementary ideas about Lamb shift and its significance.

Nuclear Physics

• Basic nuclear properties-size, binding energy, angular momentum, parity, and magnetic moment. Semi-empirical mass formula and applications
• Mass parabolas. The ground state of a deuteron magnetic moment and non-central forces. Meson’s theory of nuclear forces
• Salient features of nuclear forces. Shell model of the nucleus-success and limitations. Violation of parity in beta decay
• Gamma decay and internal conversion. Elementary ideas about Mossbauer spectroscopy. Q-value of nuclear reactions
• Nuclear fission and fusion, energy production in stars. Nuclear reactors.

Particle Physics & Solid State Physics

• Particle Physics: Classification of elementary particles and their interactions. Conservation laws. Quark structure of hadrons
• Field quanta of electroweak and strong interactions. Elementary ideas about the Unification of Forces. Physics of neutrinos
• Solid State Physics: Cubic crystal structure. Band theory of solids- conductors, insulators and semiconductors. Elements of superconductivity, Meissner effect, Josephson junctions and applications.
• Elementary ideas about high-temperature superconductivity.

Electronics

• Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors-p-np and np-n transistors. Amplifiers and oscillators.
• Op-amps. FET, JFET and MOSFET. Digital electronics-Boolean identities, De Morgan’s laws, Logic gates and truth tables
• Simple logic circuits. Thermistors, solar cells. Fundamentals of microprocessors and digital computers.

• Unlimited Test Re-Attempts

Physics UPSC Optional Syllabus 

The initial preparation for the exam starts with a thorough knowledge of the syllabus and the exam pattern. This Physics Optional UPSC Syllabus PDF will help candidates in understanding the important topics that can be asked in Physics Optional Papers 1 & 2. Candidates can download the UPSC Physics Optional Syllabus PDF from the links given in the table below.

UPSC Physics Optional Exam Pattern

Here are the details about the UPSC Physics Optional Exam Pattern for the IAS mains exam:

• There will be 2 papers for the physics optional subject in UPSC IAS Mains.
• Each paper would comprise 250 marks, which makes it 500 marks in total.
• The time duration to attempt the UPSC physics paper is 3 hours.
• Each paper would have objective answer-type questions.
• There is no negative marking.

Check the detailed IAS Exam Pattern here.

Tips To Prepare For Physics Optional Syllabus for UPSC

The preparation for UPSC Physics Syllabus requires a clear understanding of the concepts and a good grasp of numerical would be helpful to a great extent. As it is a rational subject, it might demand more attention as compared to other subjects. Have a look at the preparation tips for the physics optional syllabus below.

• It is requisite to jot down the syllabus and keep track of the topics done and the topics that are left.
• Having a thorough timetable would be of great benefit. The timetable helps in distributing the time, which ultimately helps in covering the topics more effectively.
• Before starting with the preparation, candidates must go through the UPSC Physics Syllabus in detail to know which topics they have to cover. There are several topics included in the syllabus, candidates must know how to prepare for them wisely and plan out their studies. The UPSC Physics Syllabus will be available in the official UPSC notification, candidates can also download the UPSC Physics Syllabus and Exam Pattern from the PDF in this article.
• Another necessary thing is to focus more on solving previous years’ question papers, appear for various mock tests and attempt the UPSC Test Series.
• Reference books play a vital role. So, the aspirants must cling to a few but the best books, this helps in better understanding and efficient learning.
• Candidates must keep a track of their errors in the test series, analyse their weak points and then must work on them accordingly.

Get the UPSC Physics Optional Question Papers Here!

Best Books For UPSC Physics Syllabus

Some of the best books to study the complete UPSC Physics Optional Syllabus are mentioned below:

• Classical Mechanics by Gupta, Kumar & Sharma
• Wave by D.S. Mathur
• EM Theory by Chopra & Agarwal
• Quantum Physics by Resnick & Eisberg
• Electricity & Magnetism: DC Tayal, BS Agarwal, Griffith

This was a detailed article about the UPSC Physics Syllabus. To start the preparation for your examination, download the Testbook App and get access to world-class education, mock tests, etc.