What are Physics Battles and how do you prepare for them?

This guide is a short introduction to Physics Battles tournaments. It should give participants a clearer idea of how to prepare for the different parts of a tournament. Most of the advice is written for one kind of tournament, but much of it also works for other long events, from olympiads to national training camps.

A Physics Battles tournament is a competition for school and university students in which participants solve physics problems and defend their solutions in front of a critical audience. Such tournaments have been held since the 1980s. Unlike in a subject olympiad, participants deal with each other directly while solutions are being defended.

Among the best known are the International Young Physicists' Tournament and the Russian Young Physicists' Tournament.

There are two types of tournaments:

• Young Physicists' Tournament (YPT). Teams get several months to work on a set of hard research problems in theoretical and experimental physics.
• Flash battles. Participants see the problems only at the tournament itself and have less time to solve them. The battle procedure is different too: the problems are closed, the jury is smaller, and there are no practical rounds.

Each type calls for its own kind of preparation. Besides solving problems, you need to be able to speak in front of an audience and to come up with strategy and tactics quickly when time is short.

The rest of this guide is about flash battles. When it was written, Almaty Physics Battles (APhB) was, as far as we know, the only Physics Battles tournament in Central Asia. It has two stages: a qualifier and a final.

Rules and format

Preparation for any competition should start with the rules and the problem format. You also need to study physics, of course, but that is best started early, long before the three months leading up to the tournament. Below is a short overview of the Physics Battles rules. The full rules are in the tournament regulations: APhB regulations from 2024 onwards are published on the Beyond Curriculum website.

The tournament consists of several rounds. Each round has a problem-solving session, a captains' battle and a physics battle.

• Problem-solving session. The first part of a round: each team works on the problems on its own.
• Captains' battle. The team captains race to solve a single problem. The winner chooses their team's role in the first stage of the physics battle.
• Physics battle. It consists of several stages. In each stage one team presents its solution to a problem, and the solution is checked straight away: first by the opponents (this is called opposition), then by the jury. Each team can earn points for its role in the stage. At the end of the round the jury sums up and, based on these points, awards both teams match points on a win–draw–loss basis.

Physics Battles tournaments are usually run on the Swiss system. It keeps the number of rounds small without eliminating any teams. From the second round on, teams with the same number of match points play each other, so clearly strong and clearly weak teams meet less often.

Theory

General preparation for physics olympiads already covers most of what you need for Physics Battles. Still, it is worth working through problems from past tournaments to get used to the format, the different time limits and solving as a team. At APhB the problems are usually at the level of the district and regional stages of the national olympiad, though this can vary. For more detail, see the level 2 and level 3 physics olympiad preparation plans.

Teamwork

To win, not every team member needs to know every topic at national olympiad level, although it helps. What matters much more is that the team as a whole covers every area well. Each member is stronger than their teammates in some areas and weaker in others, and that creates balance. For example, one knows mechanics well, another is good at thermodynamics and molecular physics, a third at electromagnetism, a fourth at optics. In the end you need to solve as many problems as possible in a short time, as at an olympiad, only as a team. Get to know each other better and learn each person's strengths and weaknesses. Above all, trust each other and don't hog the spotlight.

Broad knowledge of physics matters most for the captain. In the captains' battle the captain represents the whole team and races the opposing captain on a problem alone. The captain also coordinates the team's work and talks to the jury during the battle. So the captain needs to know every area well: that makes it easier to assign roles and to follow teammates' solutions quickly.

Problem-solving session

Split the problems according to each member's level and the time available. Usually whoever solved a problem also presents or opposes it at the board, but each member can go to the board only a limited number of times. Start with the easier problems: all problems are worth the same.

Physics battle

In each stage one team presents and the other opposes, then they swap roles. Support your presenter: if you need to pass them information, take a short break. Meanwhile the rest of the team can keep working on problems.

Tactics

• Replacing the presenter. Allowed, but the trip to the board counts for both members, and the regulations sometimes limit replacements. Save it for emergencies.
• Correctness check. If the challenged team has not solved the problem, it can check whether the challenge is correct. If the challenge turns out to be incorrect, the challenging team loses part of its points to the opponent. Limits and penalties are set by the regulations.
• Declining to challenge. If you have no solved problems left, you can end the round without a penalty. It is a tactical move that helps you hold your position.

Think these scenarios through in advance. Then at the tournament all your time goes to the problems.

Your first physics battle is over. You have signed the score sheet and left the room.

What now? Rest. Drink some water, have a snack, go to the bathroom, lie down, play board games, get some fresh air. Unlike a regular olympiad, Physics Battles are more like a marathon, so you need to pace yourself. Don't re-solve problems or review theory, or you will run out of energy halfway through the tournament. If you really want to do something useful, think about strategy: what to change, how best to challenge your opponents and how to start the round if you win the captains' battle.

Authors

This guide was written by members of the Organizing and Methodological Committee (OMC) of Almaty Physics Battles 2024: Yernur Kayrollayev (IZhO bronze, national olympiad bronze) and Doszhan Bisimbi (IPhO silver, IZhO silver, national olympiad gold).

IPhO is the International Physics Olympiad, the most prestigious physics olympiad in the world. IZhO is the International Zhautykov Olympiad.

Edited by OMC chair Arsen Kozhabek and Almaty Physics Battles 2024 OMC member Alisher Yerkebayev.

License

This preparation guide is the intellectual property of the Beyond Curriculum Public Foundation and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. You may share it in whole or in part on the following conditions: you must credit the copyright holder (BY, Beyond Curriculum Public Foundation) with an active link to the original source; you may not modify the guide (ND); and you may use it only for non-commercial purposes (NC).

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