Ph106b: Topics in Classical Physics - Mechanics

Michael Cross, Caltech

Academic Year 2011-2012, Winter 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.

Announcements

2/15/12: I've posted the midterm solutions. The statistics of the midterm score (out of 30) were: mean - 23.6, standard deviation - 6.2.
2/6/12: The graded Assignment 4 sets are available for pick up from the Ph106 out box in E. Bridge.
2/3/12: I have e-mailed the solutions to Assignment 4 to students who have handed in the assignment. If I have missed your name and you have handed it in, please let me know.
The midterm is now available for download.
The midterm will be due ~~Monday February 6th~~ in class on Tuesday February 7th. I will make it available by Wednesday February 1, so you can complete it earlier if you wish. However there will also be an assignment (probably of shorter length than usual) due on Friday February 3.
The place for the TA office hours has been moved to 165 West Bridge.

Outline

In the first half of Ph106b I will largely be following the chapters 10-12 of Hand and Finch, with some additions, subtractions, and reorderings. See the syllabus for more details. In the second half of the term Prof. Eisenstein will take over and discuss Electromagnetism.

Vital Information

Time and Place:

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

Instructor:

Prof. Michael Cross, 128 Bridge, Mail Code 149-33, mcc at caltech.edu
Office hours: Thursdays 1:30 - 2:30pm

Teaching Assistants:

Chien-Yao Tseng, chienyao at caltech.edu
Min-Feng Tu, minfengtu at gmail.com
Office hours: Thursday 7-9 pm in 165 W. Bridge
Min-Feng will grade odd numbered assignments, and Chien-Yao will grade even numbered assignments. Each will hold office hours on the day before the homework they will grade is due.

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

Recommended text:

Analytical Mechanics by Hand and Finch: much of the structure, pacing, notation, etc. is taken from this text.

Other texts:

Classical Mechanics by Goldstein, Poole, and Safko (3rd edition): an alternative discussion that is less readable than Hand and Finch, but sometimes more precise; more advanced overall.
Classical Mechanics by John Taylor: a nice book, with more review of the basics than Hand and Finch, but slightly less advanced than the level of the class; it will need supplementing with other reading in a few places.

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

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
Spacetime Physics by Taylor and Wheeler

Class Notes

I will make available 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. However these are not meant to be a complete discussion. 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 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 is composed as 25% homework sets for the first half of the term, 25% midterm, and 50% from the second half of the term.

Last updated 15 February, 2011