The PH syllabus includes mathematical physics, mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum physics, thermodynamics, condensed matter, electronics and nuclear physics. Measurements and error analysis are a separate listed section in 2027.

Physics is tested within a 100-mark paper. The paper also includes General Aptitude. The sections below show the complete subject syllabus.

GATE PH Syllabus and Marks Distribution

There is no optional subject block in this paper. All listed sections are part of the syllabus.

Physics Unit-wise Syllabus

Measurements and Error Analysis

• Units and dimensions, dimensional analysis; least count, significant figures; Methods of measurement and error analysis for physical quantities associated with various measurements; 2-probe and 4-probe methods for resistance measurement; Grounding for electrical circuits, Ground loops; Design of DC power supply, Signal processing through lock-in amplifiers.

Mathematical Physics

• Linear vector spaces: basis, orthogonality and completeness; matrices: similarity transformations, diagonalization, eigenvalues and eigen vectors; linear differential equations: simple applications of first and second order linear differential equations an d solutions; complex analysis: Cauchy -Riemann conditions, Cauchy's theorem, singularities, residue theorem and applications; Fourier analysis; tensors: tensor transformations, covariant and contravariant tensors.

Classical Mechanics

• D'Alembert's principle, Euler-Lagrange equation, Hamilton's principle, calculus of variations; symmetry and conservation laws; central force motion: Kepler problem; small oscillations: coupled oscillations and normal modes; rigid body dynamics: inertia tensor, orthogonal transformations, Euler angles, torque free motion of a symmetric top; Hamiltonian and Hamilt on's equations of motion; canonical transformations: Poisson bracket. Special theory of relativity: Lorentz transformations, relativistic kinematics, mass -energy equivalence.

Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

• Laws of thermodynamics; macrostates and microstates; phase space; ensembles; partition function, free energy, calculation of thermodynamic quantities; classical and quantum statistics; degenerate Fermi gas; black body radiation and Planck's distribution law; Bose-Einstein condensation; first and second order phase transitions, phase equilibria, critical phenomena.

Electromagnetic theory

• Solutions of electrostatic and magnetostatic problems including boundary value problems; method of images; separation of variables; dielectrics and conductors; magnetic materials; multipole expansion; Maxwell's equations; scalar and vector potentials; Coulomb and Lorentz gauges; electromagnetic waves in free space, non-conducting and conducting media; reflection and transmission at normal and oblique incidences; polarization of electromagnetic waves; Poynting vector, Poynting theorem, energy and momentum of electromagnetic waves.

Optical Physics

• Wave equation: plane and spherical waves, superposition of waves, standing waves, phase and group velocities; Interference: spatial and temporal coherence, dielectric films, Newton’s ring, multiple -beam interference, Michelson interferometer, Fabry -Perot i nterferometer and etalon; diffraction: Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction, rectangular and circular aperture, Rayleigh criterion of resolution, diffraction from double slit and many slits. dispersion by a grating; polarization: Jones vectors and matrices for linear, circular and elliptical polarization, birefringence, ray -transfer matrix for mirrors and lenses; lasers: Einstein coefficients, population inversion, two and three level laser systems.

Quantum Mechanics

• Basic ideas of quantum mechanics; uncertainty principle; linear vectors and operators in Hilbert space; time independent Schrodinger equation; one dimensional potentials: step potential, finite rectangular well, tunnelling from a potential barrier, particle in 1,2,3 -dimensional box, particle in single and double delta function potentials, 1,2,3 dimensional harmon ic oscillator: concept of degeneracy; central potentials;
• hydrogen-like atoms; orbital and spin angular momenta; addition of angular momenta; variational method, time independent perturbation theory; elementary scattering theory, Born approximation.

Atomic and Molecular Physics

• Spectra of one -and many -electron atoms; spin -orbit interaction: L -S and j -j coupling schemes; fine and hyperfine structures; Zeeman, Paschen-Back and Stark effects; electric dipole transitions and selection rules; rotational and vibrational spectra of diatomic molecules; electronic transitions in diatomic molecules, Franck- Condon principle; Raman effect and basics of Raman spectroscopy; NMR, ESR, X -ray and Mossbauer spectroscopies.

Solid State Physics

• Elements of crystallography; diffraction methods for structure determination; bonding in solids; lattice vibrations and thermal properties of solids; free electron theory; band theory of solids: nearly free electron model; metals, semiconductors and insula tors; conductivity, electron and hole statistics in intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, mobility and effective mass; metal-semiconductor junctions; ohmic and rectifying contacts; dielectric properties of solids; polarizability, ferroelectricity; magnet ic properties of solids; dia, para, ferro, antiferro and ferri magnetism, ferromagnetic domains; superconductivity: type -I and type II superconductors, Meissner effect, London equation, BCS theory, flux quantization.

Nuclear and Particle Physics

• Nuclear binding energy, electric and magnetic moments; semi -empirical mass formula; nuclear models; liquid drop model, nuclear shell model; nuclear force and two nucleon problem; alpha decay, beta -decay, electromagnetic transitions in nuclei; Rutherford scattering, nuclear reactions, conservation laws; fission and fusion; particle accelerators and detectors; elementary particles; photons, baryons, mesons and leptons; quark model; conservation laws, isospin symmetry, charge conjugation, parity and time-reversal invariance.

Electronics

• p-n diodes, bipolar junction transistors, field effect transistors; negative and positive feedback circuits; oscillators, operational amplifiers and their applications, active filters; wave form generators: sine wave, square wave and triangular wave; basics of digital logic circuits, combinational and sequential circuits, flip- flops, timers, counters, registers, A/D and D/A conversion.

General Aptitude Syllabus

General Aptitude contributes 15 marks within the 100-mark paper. It is not an additional paper that can be left out when choosing the technical sections.

Chapter-wise Weightage and Important Topics

Only the section-wise marks are fixed. IIT Madras has not assigned a guaranteed number of marks to each chapter of Physics. A topic may appear in one year and receive fewer questions in another; a past-paper count is not an official 2027 weightage.

For a chapter-weightage comparison, record the year, paper code, session, question number and marks of each matching question. Keep a combined question under one main topic or label the overlap explicitly; counting it twice inflates the total. GATE previous-year question papers can be used for this topic-by-topic practice.

Question Types and Negative Marking

The paper uses one-mark and two-mark questions. The number of MCQ, MSQ and NAT questions is not a fixed chapter-wise quota. In an MSQ, selecting one correct option is not enough when the correct answer contains two options.