DAMP Physics, IITB

Instructor Name: Anirban Sain Course Type: Theory Pre-requisites: Vector algebra and Matrix Algebra, Conic Sections, Integration and Differentiation  Course Content: Lagrange's Equation, Small Oscillations - finding frequency and normal modes of an oscillating system, Central Force and Kepler Problem, Rotation of rigid bodies, Canonical Transformations and Noether's Theorem Other topics covered: Liouville's Theorem Books: Analytical Mechanics - L. Hand and J. Finch  Classical Mechanics - H. Goldstein  Lectures: Attendance is taken in every class but DX grade is not awarded to anyone. All lectures are taught on the blackboard.  Assignments: Ungraded assignments were given after each major topic which were then discussed in class. The assignments consisted mainly of problems from either Hand and Finch or Goldstein. Exams and Grading: Quiz 1 - 10 marks, Midsem - 30 marks, Quiz 2 - 10 marks, Endsem - 50 marks   Pro-tips: 1. Do past quest...

Instructor Name:  Prof. Anirban Sain Course Type:  Core Pre-requisites:  Formal: none; Informal: MA 105 (Multi-variable calculus) Course Content:  Principle of least action, small oscillations, central force problems, rigid body motion, canonical transformations Other Topics Covered:  Euler-Lagrange equations for various minimization/optimization problems, Noether's theorem and converse (a poor man's version of the proof of Noether's theorem) Books:  Classical mechanics by Herbert Goldstein; Analytical mechanics by Louis N. Hand and Janet D. Finch Lectures:  No formal attendance policy, blackboard teaching method was followed Assignments:  Ungraded tutorials, mostly taken either from Goldstein or Hand and Finch; quality of problems was on the better side, but a mixed bag in terms of difficulty Exams and Grading:  2 quizzes (10% each), 1 midsem (30%), 1 endsem (50%) Pro-Tips:  Goldstein takes more time to study, so...

Instructor Name:  Prof. Kumar Rao Course Type:  Core Pre-requisites:  None Course Content:  Schrodinger Equation, Particle in a box, quantum harmonic oscillator, infinite vector space, bra-ket notations, angular momentum and spin algebra, spherical harmonics, spherically symmetric potentials, hydrogen atom, addition of angular momenta, Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. Books:  Principles of Quantum Mechanics, by R Shankar; Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by DJ Griffiths. Lectures:  No attendance policy, but the prof highly encourages attending his lectures. Prof teaches from slides in class. The slides are good and complete. Assignments:  Regular tutorial sheets and tutorial sessions. In addition two assignments had to be submitted which carried weightage in the final grading. Exams and Grading:  Quiz1-10% , Quiz2-10%, Midsem-30% , Endsem-40%, 2 Assignments-10% combined. Respondent:  Viraj Karambelkar  

Instructor Name:  Prof. Punit Parmanand Course Type: Core (BSc.) Pre-requisites:  Basic BSc knowledge Course Content:  Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Other Topics Covered:  Very few topics were covered Books:  Thornton and Marion Lectures:  Very poor... should have used the board to teach but instead the full course ran on projector. Assignments:  Tutorial were nice but grading policy very bad...the class average turned out to be about 5 in this course Exams and Grading:  Midsem(30%) , 1 quiz(20%) and endsem(30%) and 20% attendance Follow up courses:  Any applied CMP course/project! Pro-Tips:  Don't believe what the Prof. says as half the time he fools around with students Personal Comments:  The instructor is not at all serious about the course and TA's shouldn't be allowed to make question papers. Respondent:  Souvik Das

Instructor Name:  Prof.  P. Ramadevi, Prof. S. Shankaranarayanan Course Type: Core Pre-requisites:  Quantum Mechanics 1 Course Content:  Angular momentum algebra and the Wigner-Eckart theorem, variational principle, WKB method, time independent and time dependent perturbation theory, introduction to scattering theory, introduction to relativistic QM   Books:  Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (Griffiths), Modern Quantum Mechanics (Sakurai), Principles of Quantum Mechanics (Shankar), Quantum Mechanics (Merzbacher)   Lectures:  Prof. Ramadevi: Combination of slides and blackboard. Prof. Shankaranarayanan: Blackboard only. Attendance was taken in every class but no DX grades were awarded. Assignments:  A few problems in every assignment sheet were to be submitted for grading (accounted for 20% of the final grade). The other problems were discussed in class either by the instructor or the TA. Difficulty level of assignments was m...

Instructor name:  Amitabha nandi Course Type:  Honours / Elective Pre-requisites:  Statistical mechanics Course Content:  Stochastic processes, critical phenomena and phase transitions , landau Ginsburg theory, mean field theory, renormalization group(conceptual) Books:  Van kampen for 1st half, kardar for second Lectures:  Use of Blackboard for lecturing Assignments: Very few tutorials Exams and Grading:  1 quiz, 1 project, midsem 30% endsem 40% Pro-Tips:  Any book in critical phenomena Respondent:  Mikail Note: This is a review to help you make a more informed choice about how to study for this course and/or choosing this course. While we've tried to keep it objective and complete, one must keep in mind that students have varying interests, methods of study, and the course itself changes from year to year.

Instructor Name Raghunath Chelakkot Course Type Honours/Elective (Core for DD) Course overview Lagrangian density, generalised Euler-Lagrange equations, concept of continuum limit, tensors, electromagnetic field tensor and lagrangian density of the field Fluid mechanics - Navier-Stokes equation, its solutions for specific conditions Elasticity - Moduli of elasticity, deformation, stress/strain tensors,elastic energy, bending of rods Prerequisites No formal or informal prerequisites Credit distribution 2 quizzes (15% each), 1 midsem (30%), 1 endsem (40%) Feedback on Lectures No formal attendance policy, classes mostly on blackboard, only introductory lecture and one other lecture on the concept of strain rate, and bending of rods used slides Feedback on tutorials, assignments and exams Ungraded tutorials were regularly provided for practice, and consequently discussed in class Relevant References Goldstein for the initial Classical Mechan...

Instructor Name Kumar Rao Course Type Core for EP students Course overview Schrodinger Equation, Particle in a box, quantum harmonic oscillator, infinite vector space, bra-ket notations, angular momentum and spin algebra, spherical harmonics, spherically symmetric potentials, hydrogen atom, addition of angular momenta, Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. Prerequisites No formal prerequisites. Knowledge of PH 107 is useful but not essential. Credit distribution Quiz1-10% , Quiz2-10%, Midsem-30% , Endsem-40%, 2 Assignments-10% combined. Feedback on Lectures No attendance policy, but the prof highly encourages attending his lectures. Prof teaches from slides in class. The slides are good and complete; they are regularly updated. Feedback on tutorials, assignments and exams Regular tutorial sheets and tutorial sessions (once a week). In addition, two assignments had to be submitted which carried weightage in the final grading. Relevant References There is...

Instructor Name Anirban Sain Course Type Core for EP students Course overview Principle of least action, Euler-Lagrange equations for various minimization/optimization problems, small oscillations, central force problems, rigid body motion, canonical transformations., Noether's theorem. Prerequisites Formal: none; Informal: MA 105 (Multivariable calculus) Credit distribution 2 quizzes (10% each), 1 midsem (30%), 1 endsem (50%) Feedback on Lectures No formal attendance policy, classes exclusively on blackboard Feedback on tutorials, assignments and exams Ungraded tutorials, mostly taken either from Goldstein or Hand and Finch. Quality of problems was on the better side, but a mixed bag in terms of difficulty. Problems in exams were of a similar nature. Relevant References Classical mechanics by Herbert Goldstein Analytical mechanics by Louis N. Hand and Janet D. Finch Pro-tips Goldstein takes more time to study, so be prepared ...