December 1, 2021
The first version of worksheet #15 is available - this material will not appear in the final exam. The final homework on Poisson brackets is available through the website and the repository.
The following due dates have been extended: HW12 (Dec 3), HW13 (Dec 6, late: Dec 10), HW14 (Dec 10, late: Dec 14) (see Gradescope).
November 24, 2021
A first version of worksheet #14, homework #13 and the template for project #3 are available through the website and the repository. The solution for worksheet #13 has been added to the repository.
November 21, 2021
Worksheet #13 and homework #12 have been added to the website and the repository. Solutions for homeworks #8 and #9 are available through the repository.
Note the extended regular due date for homework #12, which is Nov 29th.
November 12, 2021
Homework #11 has been added to the website and the repository.
November 11, 2021
First version of worksheet #12 (incl. a Mathematica notebook for the heavy top) is available in the repository and on the website. Rolling updates continue for #11.
November 8, 2021
The final exam will take place on Wednesday, December 15 from 7:45-9:45am (PHY422) and 7:45-10:45am (PHY820), respectively. The exam room will be STEM 2202. For students with time extensions, an alternative time will be arranged (most likely the afternoon on the same day - please contact me asap if you would have any scheduling issues.)
November 5, 2021
Yet another update to worksheet #10 and a first version of worksheet #11 (group problems only) have been posted to the website and the repository — continue to check back for updates. To aid your midterm preparation, the solutions for these worksheets are already available in the repo, along with the solution to homework #7.
October 29, 2021
Homework #9 has been added to the website and the repository. Check back for worksheet #10 periodically - I have posted an initial version and will keep on adding to it throughout the week. For the most part, worksheets #10 and #11 will parallel to the discussion in chapters 3 and 4 of Lemos’ book, and you should plan to work through those ahead of midterm #2 (Nov 12th).
October 27, 2021
Posted the template for the second computational project to the website and the GitLab repository. Solutions for homework #6 and worksheet #8 are now available in the repository as well.
October 22, 2021
Homework #8 and worksheet #9 have been added to the website and the repository.
October 18, 2021
Added solutions for worksheet #7 to the repository, and corrected some typos on worksheet #8 (available here and through the repo).
October 14, 2021
Homework #7 and worksheet #8 have been added to the website and the repository.
October 8, 2021
Homework #6 and a first version of worksheet #7 have been added to the website and the repository. The worksheet is still missing the final step of the proof for Bertrand’s theorem (see e.g. Lemos’ book). I am trying out some alternative ideas for the proof and might restructure section 2.3 a bit as a consequence - stay tuned.
September 29, 2021
Fixed some typos on worksheets #4 and #5, and added worksheet #6 along with a Jupyter demo for the cycloidal pendulum (try it out!).
Added more worksheet and homework solutions to the repository - the goal is to add as many as possible by early next week.
Note: There will be no homework #5 on Friday to free up time for the midterm preparation. I strongly encourage you to go over all the group exercises, especially the ones you haven’t finished yourself. If you’re unsure about your approach or the material don’t hesitate to come to office hours or to reach out - the sooner, the better.
You can also give the first batch of exam preparation problems a try: P1-6 are about the material we went through, and you can try constructing Lagrangians for P16-P19 without going into the calculation of normal modes. Solutions to these problems are available in the repository in the folder exams/prep.
September 24, 2021
A slightly updated worksheet #4, the new worksheet #5 as well as homework #4 are available through the website and the repository. The solution for homework #1 is also available in the repo now.
September 20, 2021
The solution to worksheet #3 is already available in the repository, if you want to review the derivation of geodesics using variational calculus. I also fixed some minor issues on worksheet #4
that came up during class today.
September 17, 2021
Late update: Added the template for the first computational project to the website and the GitLab repository.
Worksheet #4 and homework #3 have been added to the website and the repository. The solution for worksheet #2 is also available through the repo.
Homework solutions will be added to the repository within 1-2 weeks after the due date, depending on whether any extensions are in place, and how close we are to a midterm (the goal is to make as many solutions as possible available to help you prepare.)
September 10, 2021
The worksheet and homework for next week have been added to the website and the repository. The solution for worksheet #1 is also available through the repo. (Worksheet solutions will be added on Wednesdays.)
My office hours will be M 2-4pm, W 1:30-3pm and F 2-4pm until further notice. You can find me in office 2105 in the FRIB building. (If you are not an FRIB student, check in with the receptionist, they will notify me.)
September 7, 2021
Reminder: We will meet in BPS 1420 on Sep 8th, but starting the week of Sep 13th, our meeting rooms will be STEM 2202 on Mondays, and PSS A149 on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Please reply to the office hour poll in the Slack channel! (On that note, we are still missing a few folks on Slack, as well as the GitLab repository.)
September 1, 2021
The meeting room for Fridays has moved to PSS A149 (Plant & Soil Science Bldg.). This is the same room used by PHY 851 - Quantum Mechanics in the subsequent time slot. I am trying to secure the same room for future Wednesday meetings, please check back!
More updates and fixes to the website. Email invitations for the GitLab repositories and the Slack channel have been sent.
August 31, 2021
Website update for FS21 is in progress - check back periodically. In the mean time, you can find the website for
the FS20 version of the course here.