Start of semester

Tuesday was registration day. MIT students think it's funny that we still have to register for classes on paper, but being a PhB graduate I'm used to it. After breakfast, at which we picked up the relevant forms, I had a meeting with my academic advisor, Senthil Todadri, scheduled for 9:45. Note that an academic advisor is different from a research supervisor (also known as a thesis advisor): I don't have the latter yet.

I had already thought about the courses I wanted to take, and after confirming that he thought taking three courses (rather than two courses and one third time research) was a good idea, he quickly agreed with my choice of courses. I took the form over to the ice rink (although indoors, it is seasonal, so the floor is concrete at the moment) and was done nice and quickly.

I then came home to sort out my timetable.

Monday: Quantum 10-11:30, Solids 1-2:30, Stat mech 2:30-4
Tuesday: no classes
Wednesday: Quantum 10-11:30, Solids 1-2:30, Stat mech 2:30-4
Thursday: no classes
Friday: Quantum 10-11, Stat mech 2:30-4

The last time I didn't have a research course (research courses are capable of expanding to fill all the hours you let them) was 2005, and I had around 25 contact hours then. I think this semester will be a much lighter load than I was expecting: more "watering canned" than hosed.

In the evening I went to Taize prayer again. This time I knew not to have dinner first, and as well as going to Bertucci's afterwards we had cake for Mary's birthday. I went to a second birthday party that evening: Josh (a fellow first year physicist) was turning 23.

Yesterday was the first day of class. It began with quantum mechanics, where we revised three formulations of classical mechanics: Newtonian, Hamiltonian and Lagrangian. We will look at the corresponding formulations of quantum mechanics later in the course. Theory of solids also had some very foundational material: defining and classifying solids. Likewise (no surprise) statistical mechanics, where we began with the zeroth (if A and C are in equilibrium, and so are B and C, then A and B will be as well: this allows the definition of a temperature scale) and first (changing the conditions of an adiabatically isolated system requires the same amount of work however it is done) laws of thermodynamics.

Today I'm enjoying my day off (the first of many to come)!