Advanced Classical Mechanics I

Course #PH4153

Est.imated Completion Time: 3 months

Overview

The first course in a two-course sequence covering classical mechanics at the advanced graduate level. Newtonian mechanics of single-particle and two-body central force systems, including orbital motion and scattering . Constraints, Lagrangian dynamics and generalized coordinates. Euler's formulation of rigid body mechanics. Small oscillations and systems of coupled oscillators.

Included in Degrees & Certificates

299

Prerequisites

PH3152
PH3991

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to solve quantitative problems at the graduate level for the following list of topics:

Hamilton’s principle and the calculus of variations;
Lagrangian mechanics of single-particle and two-body central force systems, including orbital mechanics and scattering;
Eigenvalue problems of normal frequencies, with application to molecular vibration;
Legendre transforms and the principle of least action;
Canonical transforms and Poisson brackets, with application to the harmonic oscillator and angular momentum;
Hamilton-Jacobi equation and action-angle variables for one degree of freedom.

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