| MWF 11-11:50 AM | OPL 107 | http://www.wfu.edu/~natalie/f05phy711/ |
| Instructor: Natalie Holzwarth | Phone:758-5510 | Office:300 OPL | e-mail:natalie@wfu.edu |
This course is a one semester survey of Classical Mechanics at the graduate level, using the textbook: Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua by Alexander L. Fetter and John Dirk Walecka (McGraw-Hill, 1980) -- F&W.
It is likely that your grade for the course will depend upon the following factors:
|
Problem sets* |
40% |
|
20% |
|
|
Exams |
40% |
*
In general, there will a new assignment after each lecture, so that for optimal learning, it would be best to complete each assignment before the the next scheduled lecture. According to the honor system, all work submitted for grading purposes should represent the student's own best efforts.| Date | F&W Reading | Topic | Assignment | |
| Wed, 8/24/05 | Chap. 1 | Review of basic principles;Scattering theory | #1 | |
| Fri, 8/26/05 | Chap. 1 | Scattering theory continued | #2 | |
| Mon, 8/29/05 | Chap. 1 | Scattering theory continued | #3 | Wed, 8/31/05 | Chap. 3 | D'Alembert's principle | #4 |
| Fri, 9/01/05 | Chap. 3 | Calculus of variation | #5 | |
| Mon, 9/05/05 | Chap. 3 | Calculus of variation | #6 | |
| Wed, 9/07/05 | Chap. 3 | Lagrangian dynamics | #7 | |
| Fri, 9/09/05 | Chap. 3 | Lagrangian dynamics | #8 | |
| Mon, 9/12/05 | Chap. 4 | Small Oscillations | #9 | |
| Wed, 9/14/05 | Chap. 4 | Normal modes | ||
| Fri, 9/16/05 | Chap. 4 | Normal modes | #10 | |
| Mon, 9/19/05 | Chap. 5 | Moment of inertia tensor | #11 | |
| Wed, 9/21/00 | Chap. 5 | Euler Angles | #12 | |
| Fri, 9/23/05 | Chap. 5 | Symmetric top | #13 | |
| Mon, 9/26/05 | Chap. 6 | Hamiltonian dynamics | #14 | |
| Wed, 9/28/05 | Chap. 6 | Hamiltonian dynamics | ||
| Fri, 9/30/05 | Chap. 6 | Hamilton-Jacobi theory | ||
| Mon,10/3/05 | Chap. 7 | Strings | ||
| Wed,10/5/05 | Chap. 7 | Sturm-Liouville equations | ||
| Fri,10/7/05 | Chap. 7 | Sturm-Liouville equations | ||
| Mon,10/10/05 | Chap. 7 | Variational principles | #15 | |
| Wed,10/12/05 | Chap. 8 | Membranes | #16 | |
| Mon,10/17/05 | Chap. 9 | Hydrodynamic | #17 | |
| Wed,10/18/05 | Chap. 9 | Hydrodynamics | #18 | |
| Fri,10/20/05 | Chap. 9 | Sound waves | #19 | |
| Mon,10/24/05 | Chap. 9 | Solutions to wave equation | ||
| Wed,10/26/05 | Chap. 9 | Digression on contour integration | #20 | |
| Fri,10/28/05 | Chap. 9 | Solutions to wave equation | #21 | |
| Mon,10/31/05 | Chap. 9 | Non-linear effects in fluid | #22 | |
| Wed,11/2/05 | Chap. 9 | Supersonic flow | ||
| Fri,11/4/05 | Chap. 9 | Shock waves | #23 | |
| Mon,11/7/05 | Chap. 10 | Surface waves | ||
| Wed,11/9/05 | Chap. 10 | Surface waves | #24 | |
| Fri,11/11/05 | Chap. 10 | Solitons | #25 | |
| Mon,11/14/05 | Chap. 11 | Heat Conduction | #26 | |
| Wed,11/16/05 | Chap. 11| Heat Conduction |
#27 | | |
| Fri,11/18/05 | Chap. 11 | Heat Conduction | ||
| Mon,11/21/05 | Chap. 12 | Viscous fluids | ||
| Mon,11/28/05 | Chap. 12 | Viscous fluids | ||
| Wed,11/30/05 | Chap. 13 | Elasticity theory | ||
| Fri,12/02/05 | Presentations |