Ph106a: Topics in Classical Physics - Mechanics

Michael Cross, Caltech

Academic Year 2009-2010, Fall Term

Overview

An intermediate course in the application of basic principles of classical physics to a wide variety of subjects. Roughly half of the year will be devoted to mechanics, and half to electromagnetism. Topics include Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of mechanics, small oscillations and normal modes, boundary-value problems, multipole expansions, and various applications of electromagnetic theory.

Quick Links

Announcements

11/20/09 Schedule for Thanksgiving week: the assignment this week will be due at 4pm on Monday November 30; the examples session will be at 10pm on Tuesday November 24; TA office hours will be on Sunday November 29 at 7pm.
11/18/09: There will be an examples session as usual tonight.
11/18/09: Midterms: These are available for pick up in the out box in East Bridge if you did not pick your exam up in class. The midterm exam statistics are mean=25.7, standard deviation=3.3. The grade statistics at midterm (weighting each of the first three homeworks out of 5 and the exam out of 30) are mean=88, standard deviation=8.5. These numbers do not change significantly if I leave the graduate students out.
11/9/09: There will be an examples session at the usual time this Wednesday (November 11). I (MCC) will be giving the session rather than Peter.
11/4/09: Yes, there is an examples session this Wednesday (today). Sorry about the late posting.
10/23/09: The the Midterm is available on the syllabus page or on Moodle. Don't forget the Midterm Review at 1-2:30pm on Saturday October 24 in Room 107 Downs.
10/20/09: The Midterm will be available this Friday, and due next Friday, October 30. There will be a Midterm Review at 1-2:30pm Saturday October 24 in Room 107 Downs replacing the Examples Session on Wednesday October 28. There will be an Examples Session as usual this Wednesday, October 21.
10/15/09: You can find the solutions to Assignment 1 on the syllabus page.
10/9/09: Assignment 2 is now available. Please download it from Moodle.
10/6/09: There will be an examples session each Wednesday at 10pm in 107 Downs. Examples topical to the lectures but not covered in the assignments will be discussed. The examples will be posted on the syllabus page before the actual session so you have some time to think about them.
10/2/09: Assignment 1 is now ready for download.
10/2/09: TA office hours are Thursday 7-9pm in 425 Lauritsen (see below for the TAs and their contact information). Since this overlaps with my original office hours, I will change my hours to 1:30-3pm on Thursdays (or other times, best by e-mail appointment).
A summary of the lecture material and any slides used in in the lecture will be posted on the "Syllabus" page, usually for you to look at before the lecture. The ones for Lectures 1 and 2 have now been posted.

Outline

In Ph106a I will largely be following the first nine chapters of Hand and Finch, with roughly one chapter per week.

Vital Information

Time and Place:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30am to noon, 107 Downs

Instructor:

Prof. Michael Cross, 114A Sloan Annex, Mail Code 114-36, mcc at caltech.edu
Office hours: Thursdays 1:30-3pm, 114A Sloan Annex or by e-mail appointment

Teaching Assistants:

Liling Gu - e-mail: gll007 at caltech.edu
Paul Skerritt -e-mail: skerritt at caltech.edu; office: 11 Steele basement
Chien-Yao Tseng - e-mail: chienyao at caltech.edu; office: 461 Lauristen
Office hours: Thursday 7-9pm, 425 Lauritsen

Feedback:

I greatly appreciate student feedback, particularly during the course so that I can try to modify the class to fit your needs. You can give feedback in person, by email, by campus mail, whatever you like.

Textbooks

Required:

Analytical Mechanics by Hand and Finch

Optional: (on reserve at Fairchild Library) Use these optional texts for alternate explanations or for additional problems or examples.

Classical Mechanics by Goldstein, Poole, and Safko (3rd edition): for an alternative discussion comparable in level to Hand and Finch
Mechanics Landau and Lifshitz: classic but terse
Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems by Thornton and Marion: not as advanced as class text, and does not cover all the material, but good supplement if you find the jump from earlier classes to Ph106 too large

Class Notes

I do not intend to make a full set of class notes available: there are many adequate textbooks already. I will post a summary for each lecture that highlights the main points, and discusses in more detail (or gives references to other sources) aspects that are not well treated in Hand and Finch. I will also post copies of any slides or other computer material used in the lecture. I will do my best to post the summary and slides before (probably only shortly before) the relevant lecture, so that you may look at them, and print them out if you wish, to decide how much to add in your own notes.

Grading

The course grade will be 30% homework sets, 30% midterm, and 40% final.

Last updated 20 November, 2009