Physics 5201
Theoretical Mechanics
Susanne Yelin
Fall Semester, 2009


Syllabus

• Contact information

  Professor:	Susanne Yelin	Office hours:	Thursday, 1:00 - 2:00 pm
  Office:	P-111		or by appointment
  Phone:	(860) 486-4899
  email:	susanne.yelin@uconn.edu

• Text book: Classical Mechanics, 3rd ed., Goldstein, Poole & Safko, Addison-Wesley, San Diego (CA), 2002. (ISBN 0-201-65702-3). See the following link for updates on the book.
  In addition to (but not replacing) the textbook, I will make my own (handwritten) lecture notes available.
• Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30 am – 11:45 pm, room P-121.
• Assessment: There will be bi-weekly written homework assignments, one written midterm exam, and one final exam. The following weights are used in calculating the final grade in the course.

  Homework	30%
  Midterm	25%
  Final	40%
  Class participation	5%

  Please do note that "class participation" does mean "active participation," not just sitting in.
• Continuous Feedback: A google email address (class5201@gmail.com) has been created for class participants to login and give me (anonymous) feedback. I'll announce the password to class participants personally. This account will be deleted after the end of the class.
• Academic misconduct: There is a zero-tolerance policy for any form of academic misconduct. An explanation of academic misconduct can be found at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu. See Section VI of The Student Conduct Code by clicking on Judicial Affairs, then Student Code, then Part VI: Academic Integrity in Undergraduate Education and Research. Also see the link to Judicial Process FAQ which is available on the Judicial Affairs link.

• Course Outline:

  1-	Survey of classical mechanics
  2-	Variational Principles and Lagrange's Equation
  3-	Central Forces
  4-	Rigid Body Motion
  5-	Oscillations
  (6-	Special Relativity)
  7-	Hamilton Equations
  8-	Canonical Transformations
  9-	Hamilton-Jacobi Theory
  (10-	Chaos)
  (11-	Continuous Systems)
  (12-	Fluid Mechanics)

The topics in parentheses will be taught only if time and interest exist.