PH 217: Classical Mechanics (2023) Autumn
Prof Nitin Kumar
Prerequisite
None
Course Content
Review of Newton`s laws of motion, frames of reference, rotating frames, centrifugal and Coriolis forces. Free and constrained motion, D`Alemberts principle and Lagrange`s equation of first kind. Lagrangian formulation, Hamilton’s equation of motion. Variational principles. Canonical transformation and Poisson Bracket. Hamilton Jacobi theory and action angle variables.Periodic motion, small oscillations, normal coordinates, Central force, Kepler`s Laws and Rutherford scattering.
Books
1.011H. Goldstein, Classical Mechanics, Addison Wesley 19802.011N. C. Rana and P. S. Joag, Classical Mechanics, Tata McGraw Hill 19913.011L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Pergamon Press 19604.011V. I. Arnold, Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics, Springer Verlag 19815.011S. N. Biswas, Classical Mechanics 1998
Review by Varun Luhadia
Lectures
It was an easy course but not an interesting one. It is important also because it introduces Lagrange Principle which is applicable in various parts of Physics such as QFT and other field such as Machine Learning also. Canonical Transformations is also an important topic.
Assignments, Exams and Grading
All quizzes (Quiz 1 & Quiz 2), Midsem and Endsem were very easy. Questions were completely based on assignmens / tutorials he used to provide. He provided total 3 assignments. Every assignment had 6-7 questions which we had to submit as a pdf. Everything he taught in the lectures and asked in the exams was completely based on Goldstein. For Quizzes, 1 Cheat Sheet (both sides allowed) and for Endsem & Midsem 2 Cheat Sheets (both sides allowed). There was no attendance policy and there were no marks for attendance. Just one suggestion, ace all the important derivations and practice assignments properly. As far as I remember Quizzes had a weightage of 10 % each, 10 % of the assignments (combined), 30 % of Midsem and 50 % of Endsem.
Tips
Classical Mechanics by Goldstein, Poole and Safko
Review by Anonymous
Lectures
Course contents were conceptually on a far more difficult and rich level compared to any other course, but we were mostly taught formalism and a few toy, physical examples, so if much heed is not payed to proper mathematical phrasing and things are dealt with on a formal level, the course is quite easy to get through with flying colours. As a subject, it captures a lot of breadth not touched upon in the course and forms a basis for all the theoretical learning to be done from this point on in Physics. The professor didn't do a particularly good job of explaining the contents necessary for being confident enough to do problems required even at the level of the course. The lectures were mostly just copying from the notes (which weren't shared) (which were in turn copied from Goldstein), on to the board. The assignments were very simple. The exams weren't expected to be along the same lines, but they turned out to be, so class average was pretty high.
Assignments, Exams and Grading
Two quizzes (15% each), Midsem (30%), Endsem (40% - full syllabus). There were compulsory assignment submissions which carried no marks. No marks for attendance, but repeated absence might get noticed (visually. Attendance isn't taken). Cheat sheet (two sided for first three exams and 4 sided for Endsem) was allowed.
Tips
"Classical Mechanics" by Goldstein (standard reference and likely where most of what the professor is teaching is present) "Classical Mechanics" by John R. Taylor (great for beginners. Is not as high level as Goldstein and can be read when approaching the subject for the first time). Sometimes correct/equivalent approaches might be dismissed as incorrect and sometimes incorrect approaches be adopted instead because of the maths behind the theory being a little ambiguous on the surface. For this reason, a thorough understanding of one's own solutions is required to be prepared at least before the crib sessions.