PHYS 411: Classical Mechanics, 2017Professor: Yoram Lithwick

y-lithwick@northwestern.edu

OverviewAn advanced course in classical mechanics, using Goldstein’s classic “Classical Mechanics.” Wewill go through chapters 1–6 and 8–10, covering the following topics: Lagrangians, Two-bodyproblem, Small Oscillations, Rigid Body Dynamics, Hamiltonians, Hamilton-Jacobi Theory. Wewill also briefly touch on Chaos and Hamiltonian Perturbation Theory.

PrerequisitesMechanics, linear algebra and multivariable calculus.

Location and HoursTech L170, MWF 12–12:50

Course Websitehttp://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/yoram/phys411Homework and administrative info will be posted here.

My Office: F263 (Tech)Office hours: Mon. 1–2pmIf you drop by my office after 5pm, the access door will be locked. Knock hard on the door thatsays “access to F253–F275,” and if I’m in my office I’ll likely be able to hear you.

GradingHomework (40%), Midterm (25%), Final (35%)You can (and should) work together to solve homework problems on the blackboard.But: you must write up the solutions on your own and in your own words.

Grader: Jeremy Rath, F220

TextbookClassical Mechanics by Goldstein, 3rd edition. The 2nd ed. is better than the 3rd, if you can findit. The list of typos (for 2nd and 3rd ed.) is online.

There are many many helpful books and websites on classical mechanics. Especially nice is thetiny (but packed) Landau and Lifshitz.

Goldstein Sections, from 3rd ed. [in order of coverage, subject to change]1.1–1.4, 1.6 (Elementary Principles)

2.1, 2.3, 2.6–2.7 (Lagrangian Formulation)

3.1–3.5, 3.7–3.8 (Two-Body Problem)

6.1–6.5 (Small Oscillations)

1.5, 4.9–4.10, 4.1–4.8 (Rotations)

5.1–5.9 (Rigid Body Dynamics)

8.1–8.6 (Hamiltonian Formulation)

9.1–9.8 (Canonical Transformation)

10.1–10.8, 12.5 (Hamilton-Jacobi formulation)