Lattice and electron dynamics. Elementary excitations and collective phenomena. Transport properties. Disorder and localization. Long-range order and broken symmetries. Magnetism, superconductivity and liquid crystals. Properties and structures of polymers, membranes, and self-assembling systems.

Prerequisites: Physics 219 and 215C.

4

Units

Optional

Grading

1, 2, 3

Passtime

None

Level Limit

Letters and science

College
Dirk Bouwmeester
2.7
58 reviews
Fall 2025 . Balents L M
GIRV 2120
M W
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
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PHYS 223A Bouwmeester D Fall 2024 Total: 11
PHYS 223A Fisher M P Fall 2023 Total: 11
See All
58
2.7
PHYS2 . 1 Year, 8 Months Ago

Self-study class. He puts a lot of effort into the lecture demonstrations, but they dont actually help with learning. I recommend making a study group. Homework is difficult, but you have multiple tries, and section helps a lot. The midterm was normal, the final was absolutely ridiculous. There are also some in quizzes which are very easy.

0 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS2 . 1 Year, 9 Months Ago

lol what an experience tbh. super passionate but lol twas a wild ride. if you do all the book problems youll be completely fine.

0 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS2 . 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

Bouwmeester's lectures are very theoretical-leaning and, according to him, are intended to complement the textbook instead of teaching you the material. In other words, Phys 2 is a self-taught class with Bouwmeester helping you. The tests always have the hardest problem you can think of on them. This class killed my 4.0.

0 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS2 . 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

Bouwmeester is honestly not as bad as most of the reviews. He does tend to go on tangents, so honestly the textbook is what you should be thorough with. But talking to him about concepts is really nice because he does a really good job of explaining things. This course is really challenging, the concepts themselves are tough.

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PHYS2 . 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

I think Dirk gets a bad rep, but his classes are quite engaging. The content sometimes goes off topic, but the demonstrations are fun and aid in actually understanding concepts. I think the one problem with this class is that it is just SO hard. I think people are generally blaming their struggle with EXTREMELY difficult content on Dirk's teaching

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PHYS2 . 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

If you end up taking his class. I advise you to either learn this class on your own or be ready to study HARD. I was the latter. As for his tests, the midterm was completely normal, aside from the lack of MCQs, and the final was HELL, 6 questions, one was easy, one had subparts for to A->M, and the others required out-of-the-box thinking

1 helpful 0 unhelpful
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