Problem Sets (undergraduates only)
| PROBLEMS | SOLUTIONS |
|---|---|
| HW 1 (PDF) | (PDF) |
| HW 2 (PDF) | (PDF) |
| HW 3 (PDF) | (PDF) |
| HW 4 (PDF) | (PDF) |
Review Assignments (all students)
Four recent research articles will be listed for each review paper. Two will be experiment-oriented (Group A) and two will be simulation-oriented (Group B).
Undergraduates: Select one article from the four choices, submit one document.
Graduates: Select one article from each of Groups A & B, submit two documents.
After selecting an article, read it carefully, and think critically about what you have read. You will then prepare a short review of the article, in about 2 pages. About the first third of your review should be a synopsis of the paper, inclusive of methods and main results. The remainder of the review should offer a critique of the paper, and present some creative thoughts for future questions to be addressed. For example, some things to discuss may include:
- Does anything in this paper contradict the “textbook” knowledge that you are learning in class?
- Alternatively, does this paper significantly add to our understanding of something to the point where we should add this new knowledge to our textbook?
- Are the methods used in the work sufficient to support the conclusions drawn by the authors?
- Is the logic internally consistent? Do all of the data support the same conclusion?
- Can you suggest a better way to resolve one or more of the open questions in this work?
- Is there a simple experiment that can either refute or substantially support the authors’ claims?
- How general are the conclusions of this paper; are these results to be expected for other metals or materials?
- What doors does this work open for future research?
- What doors does this work open for industrial development or usage of metals?
