Physics 316: Classical Mechanics
Professor: Robert Wald
Office: RI-388C
Phone: x2-7765
Email: rmwa@midway.uchicago.edu
Graders:
Itai Seggev
Office: RI-388 Desk I
Phone: x2-7767
Email:iseggev@uchicago.edu
Michael Buice
Office: Ryerson 356
Email: mabuice@uchicago.edu
Recommended Textbooks:
"Classical Mechanics" by Herbert Goldstein
"Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics" by Vladimir Arnold
Class Schedule:
Tu,Th 12:00-1:20
No classes on:
- Tuesday, October 8
- Thursday, October 10
- Tuesday, November 5
- Thursday, November 7
Make-up classes Mondays, 9:30-10:20 on:
- October 14
- October 21
- October 28
- November 4
- November 11
- November 25
Midterm Exam:
Tuesday November 19, in class. (The exam will be "closed book", but
complicated formulas that are possibly relevant will generally be provided
on the exam.)
Course Outline
- Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations; variational principles [~2 weeks; Goldstein chapters 2,8; Arnold chapters 3,4]
- Rigid bodies [~1 week; Goldstein chapter 5; Arnold chapter 6]
- Small oscilations [~1 week; Goldstein chapter 6; Arnold chapter 5]
- Structure of phase space; Poisson brackets; canonical transformations [~3 weeks; Goldstein chapter 9; Arnold chapters 8,9]
- Hamilton-Jacobi theory [~1 week; Goldstein chapter 10; Arnold chapter 9]
- Field systems [~1 week; Goldstein chapter 13]
Homework
- Homework #1, Due October 15, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
- Homework #2, Due October 22, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
- Homework #3, Due October 29, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
- Homework #4, Due MONDAY, November 4, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
- Homework #5, Due November 12, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
- Homework #6, Due November 26, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
- Homework #7, Due December 3, 2002. Available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Solutions now available in
DVI, PDF,
and PostScript formats.
Final Exam: Tuesday, December 10, 10:30-12:30, KPTC 105
The final exam will cover material from the entire course, not just the
material covered since the midterm. As was the case for the midterm, the
final exam will be "closed book", with complicated formulas provided if
needed/relevant. The questions on material corresponding to the last few
weeks of the course (Poisson brackets, canonical transformations, etc.)
will NOT require a mastery of differential geometry as sketched in class,
i.e., the nature/level of these questions will be similar to problem sets
VI and VII.