Bryn Mawr College, Department of Physics
 
Physics 308:  Advanced Classical Mechanics, Fall 2005
 
Instructor:  Christian Bracher, Park Science Center - Room 343A, Phone:  7494, E-mail:  cbracher@brynmawr.edu

Lecture hours: 

Tuesday, 11:30am - 1pm
Tuesday, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Thursday, 11:30am - 1pm
The lectures take place in room 338, Park Science Center (please note the change). A plan is listed on the calendar and assignments webpage.

Office hours:  To discuss issues regarding this course (lectures, homework, exams, etc.), please come by my office, or leave a message to set up an appointment. I think this informal arrangement is sufficient for a small group of students, but we may pick a fixed time if you prefer.

Textbook:
J.R. Taylor:
Classical Mechanics
(University Science Books, Sausalito, CA) 2004.

Reserve material:  Further texts are on reserve in Collier Library, including:

Boas, Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences
Goldstein, Classical Mechanics
Classical mechanics is a mature subject, and there are a myriad of books of all levels out there. Searching the Internet will also usually result in more information than you could possibly want.

Content:  In this course, we will pick up from the important fundamental concepts of mechanics that you learned in the introductory class, and apply them in a more mathematical and formal way. The foundations of classical mechanics stem from the 19th century, but the theory is still of much interest, because it introduces most of the concepts used in so-called "modern physics" (symmetries and invariants, calculus of variations, the Lagrangian, Hamilton's principle, principal axis transformation and normal modes). It is also the mathematical language used in any quantitative description of chaos. (And apart from all these justifications --- like with anything called legitimately "classical," there's also a timeless beauty of sorts to it.) Since 2005 is the Einstein centennial, we will furthermore spend some time on special relativity, using an essentially geometric approach to space-time.
For a rough schedule, see the accompanying calendar and assignments sheet.

Homework:  Assignments are given out on a weekly basis in class, usually Tuesdays, and are usually due the following Tuesday. I plan to make solutions available online; see the calendar and assignments webpage. Working on the problems in groups is encouraged, but this should not translate into "one person solves the problem, the other ones just copy the solutions"! (Remember, you're not a medieval scribe.) If you find problems difficult or confusing, let me know - drop by my office, or send me an e-mail, or just ask after class.
There will be 13 homework assignments (estimated), but to give you some leeway, only your ten best homework solutions will count towards the final grade.

In-class presentations:  To get some experience talking/explaining in front of an audience, I would like each of you to present one of the homework problems in class. I will usually reserve 20 minutes in the Tuesday afternoon lecture for the purpose. We'll discuss the details in class.

Exams:  There will be two in-class midterm exams during the semester (80 minutes), and a three hour final exam.
Exams will be closed book --- materials are neither permitted nor necessary

Grading: 
Homework: 30% total,
In-class presentation: 10% total,
Midterm exams: 30% total,
Final exam: 30%.