PH 217: Classical Mechanics (2019-20)

PH 217: Classical Mechanics (2019-20)

Course Instructor: Prof. Sumiran Pujari

Course Name: Classical Mechanics

Credits: 6

Course Type: Core

Prerequisites: Informal: Linear Algebra,  Calculus
Formal: None


Course Content: D'Alembert's Principle
Lagrange's Equations
Hamilton's principle and Calculus of Variations
Lagrange Multipliers
Conservation Theorems and Symmetry
 Small oscillations - normal modes, forced vibrations, damped oscillation, response function
Legendre transformations and Hamilton's equations of Motion
Canonical Transformations, Symplectic Approach and Poisson brackets
Liouville's theorem
Central Force - Classification of orbits, Kepler Problem, Scattering in Central Force Field

Other Topics Covered: Infinitesimal Canonical Transformations (not included in the exam syllabus)

Books: Classical Mechanics - Goldstein et al.
Mechanics - Landau and Lifshitz

Lectures: No attendance was taken during the lectures, however attending and following the lectures turned out to be important for quizzes and exams. Most of the derivations and theory were worked out on the blackboard. The lectures were interesting and there was an emphasis on problem solving and working out derivations during class. Shukla sir's course notes were provided.

Assignments:  There were very few tutorials conducted, of an easy to moderate difficulty level. We were encouraged to work out the problems in Goldstein.

Exams: Quizzes and exams were moderate to difficult. The class average was initially low but picked up as we learnt to tackle sir's papers (which deviated quite a bit from the pattern of previous year's papers)

Online Study Material: none

Advanced Follow-up Courses: Nearly all courses in Classical Mechanics, QM, Continuum Mechanics, Field Theory (it's a pretty fundamental course for any physics student)

Pro Tips: Attend classes, read Goldstein. The point of the course is to help develop a sense for mathematical formalisms in physics without losing sight of the physical significance of the equations.


Respondent: Roshini Singh

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