Indian Civil Service Exams (CSE) Syllabus - UPSC Exams

UPSC Exams Indian Civil Services Syllabus for Main Exams: Physics

Paper-II

Section-A

Quantum Mechanics I

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, and 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 life-time calcuation in the alpha-decay problem.
Quantum Mechanics II & Atomic Physics
(a) Quantum Mechanics II

Particle in a three dimensional box, density of states, free electron theory of metals. The angular meomentum problem. The hydrogen atom. The spin half problem and properties of Pauli spin matrices.
(b) Atomic Physics

Stern-Gerlack experiment, electron spin, fine structure of hydrogen atom. L-S coupling, J-J coupling. Spectroscopic notation of atomic states. Zeeman effect. Frank-Condon principle and applications.
Molecular Physics

Elementary theory of rotational, vibratonal 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.

Section-B

Nuclear Physics

Basic nuclear properties-size, binding energy, angular momentum, parity, magnetic moment. Semi-empirical mass formula and applications. Mass parabolas. Ground state of a deuteron magnetic moment and non-central forces. Meson 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
(a) 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 Unification of Forces. Physics of neutrinos.
(b) 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-n-p and n-p-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.