Stony Brook University, Department of Physics and Astronomy

 

CLASSICAL MECHANICS
(PHY 501)

Fall 2004

 

A. Initial Information

Instructor:   Konstantin Likharev

          Phone: 2-8159

          E-mail: klikharev@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

          Office hours: Thursday 4:30 to 6:30 pm, Rm. B-135

 

Grader:  Miguel Bandres

          E-mail: bandres@gmail.com

          Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Rm. C-123

 

Web site: http://rsfq1.physics.sunysb.edu/~likharev/501/F04/index.html

 

Basic Textbook:       

          L. Landau and E. Lifshitz, Mechanics, 3rd ed. Butterworth-Heinmann, Oxford, 1976

 

Additional Reading From:

          A. Andronov, A. Witt, and S. Khaikin, Theory of Oscillators, Pergamon, 1966

          H. Goldstein, Classical Mechanics, 2nd ed., Addison Wesley, 1980

          L. Landau and E. Lifshitz, Theory of Elasticity, 3rd ed. Butterworth-Heinmann, Oxford, 1986

          L. Landau and E. Lifshitz, Fluid Mechanics, 2nd ed. Butterworth-Heinmann, Oxford, 1987

          J. José and E. Saletan, Classical Dynamics: A Contemporary Approach, Cambridge U. Press, 1998


Lectures:
Approximately 40 lectures, Mon-Wed-Fri 9:35-10:30 am, Rm. P-112

 

Homeworks: Weekly (with just a few exceptions)

 

Exams: Two midterms (October 4 and November 8) and a final exam (December 15)
          All exams: books open

 

Grade Components:           

          Homeworks:  20%

          Midterms:     30%

          Final exam:   50%

 

B. Syllabus

 (with approximate lecture count):

 

1. Introduction and review of fundamentals (2)

          Kinetics; dynamics; momentum; energy and work; angular momentum; many-particle systems.

 

2. Lagrangian formalism (3)

          Constrains and generalized coordinates

          Generalized forces, Lagrange equations.

          Generalized momentum; Hamiltonian and energy conservation.

 

3. 1D motion (8)

          General properties of Hamiltonian systems.

          Linear (free, damped, and forced) oscillations.      

          Strongly nonlinear systems; numerical methods.       

          Weakly nonlinear oscillations; small parameter analysis.

          Parametric oscillations, van der Pol method.

          Subharmonic oscillations.

 

4. 2D motion (5)

          Coupled oscillations; anticrossing diagram.

          Central force motion; effective mass; Kepler laws.

          Scattering; the Rutherford formula.

 

5. Rigid body motion (5)

          Rotation; inertia tensor; kinetic energy and angular momentum.

          Symmetric tops; Euler angles.

          Translation plus rotation.

          Dynamics in non-inertial reference frames.

 

6. Elasticity theory (5)

          Deformation, strain and stress tensors.

          Hooke’s law, elastic moduli.

          Equilibrium condition; beam bending; rod torsion.

          Elastic dynamics; acoustic waves.

         
7. Fluid dynamics (4)

          Fluid statics and dynamics.

          Euler and Navier-Stokes equations, analytical and numerical methods of their solution.

          Turbulence; the Reynolds number.

          Shock waves; the Mach number.


8. Chaos (3)

          Chaos in maps, logistic map.

          Chaos in dynamic systems; forced  pendulum.

          Chaos in Hamiltonian systems; the Hénon-Heiles system; integrable and mixing billiards.

          Quantum mechanics of classically chaotic systems; level repulsion.

          Chaos vs. turbulence.

 

9. Hamiltonian  and Hamilton-Jacobi formalisms (3)

          Generalized momentum; Hamilton equations; Poisson brackets.

          Hamilton principle. Hamilton-Jacobi equations.

          Analytical mechanics of continuum as a classical field theory.

          Toward the quantum field theory.