PHYS 411-0 Classical Mechanics

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Syllabus:

CLASSES: Monday/Wednesday 2-3:20pm (Tech M177)
INSTRUCTOR: Elena Murchikova
OFFICE: CIERA 7409
OFFICE HOURS: Mondays 1-2pm (Tech F123)

TA: Asad Ukani
TA Office Hours: Thusdays 2-3pm (Tech F123)

MAIN TEXTBOOK:

Goldstein 'Classical Mechanics'

OTHER TEXTBOOKS:

Jose & Saletan 'Classical Dynamics: A Contemporary Approach'
Landau & Lifshitz 'Mechanics'
Arnold 'Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics'

MIDTERM: In class. Open book or notes. No internet, no phone.
FINAL EXAM: Take-home

GRADING:
40% homework + 30% midterm + 30% final.
90-100% => A-/A ; 80-90% => B-/B/B+ ; 70-80% => C-/C/C+ ; 60-70% => D ; <60% => F

HOMEWORKS and LATE HOMEWORK POLICY:
Problem sets are assigned approximately every week. Please place the solutions into TAs mailbox in Tech from where they will be colected. If your homework is not in the mailbox during the collection it is considered one week late.

Students can submit two late homeworks up to 7 days late. No questions asked. Please mark these homeworks as 'Full grade late HW' and let TA know.
Any more homework submitted late will receive 1/2 of the grade if late by one week; 1/4 of the grade if late by two weeks, etc. No exceptions.


TESTING OUT:
This is a required course in a sense that every person with a PhD in Physics or Astro is expected to know Mechanics. Some of you have taken a strong mechanics class before, and we will not require you to repeat it.

During the first class I will administer a test. Open book/notes. No internet, no phones, no tablets, and no computers. Three outcomes are possible.
1) Your knowledge of elementary mechanics (ma=F stuff) is not solid. In this case, you will have to take an advanced undergraduate (300) level class instead.
2) Your knowledge of elementary mechanics (ma=F stuff) is solid, and you have never had a technical course in Lagrangian/Hamiltonian mechanics, or would benefit from a refresher. In this case, you will stay in this class.
3) You have a solid knowledge of both elementary and Lagrangian/Hamiltonian mechanics, and know how to solve problems. In this case, you will be exempt from taking this class.

In special circumstances, e.g. you have advanced papers which demonstrate your knowledge of mechanics, you can take an oral test before the classes start. You will be asked to solve several problems on blackboard in my office. Closed book.

Topics Covered:

Lecture I: Classical Mechanics fundamentals. Refernce frames. Newtons laws.
Lecture II: Generalized coordinates. Action Principle. Lagrangian. Lagrange equations.
Lecture III: Examples of using Lagrangian approach.
Lecture IV: Center of mass. Examples. Tensor of inertia.
Lecture V: Conservation laws. Noether's theorem. Lagrange multipliers.
Lecture VI: Two body problem. Central potential.
Lecture VII: Solving central force problem.
Lecture VIII: Oscillator. Coupled oscillators.
Lecture IX: Coupled oscillators. Eigenproblem. Normal modes
Lecture X: Rigid body dynamics. Euler angles.
Lecture XI: Infinitesimal rotations. Lagrangian of a solid body.
Lecture XII: Problem solving.
Lecture XIII: Problem solving.
Lecture XIV: Hamilton formulation of mechanics.
Lecture XV: Poisson brackets. Formal solution of Hamilton dynamics.
Lecture XVI: Canonical transformations. Generating function.
Lecture XVII: Hamilton-Jacobi approach. Jacobi's theorem. Separation of variables.
Lecture XVIII: Solving problems with HJ approach.




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