Physics 2140 - Syllabus for Fall 1995

Prof. Steven Pollock (492-2495)

Here is general administrative info (office hrs, grading policies, exam schedule, etc.)

Here is current class information (homework assignments, etc.)

Approximate course outline for Physics 2140:

(schedule may be altered depending on how things go!)

Section 1: Vectors (Aug. 28 - Sept. 6)
(Reading: Boas 3.3 - 3.5, 6.1 - 6.3)

Introduction to vectors (Boas 3.4)

Applications to analytic geometry (3.5)

Scalar products (3.4, 6.2)

Determinants (3.3)

Vector products (3.4, 6.3)

Triple products (6.3)

Applications (6.3)

Section 2: Vector Calculus I: Directional Derivatives (Sept. 8 - Sept. 18)
(Reading: Boas 4.1, 4.3, 5.4, 6.5 - 6.8)

Differentiation of vectors (6.4)

Fields (6.5)

Partial derivatives (4.1)

The gradient (6.6)

Line integrals (6.8)

Conservative fields and potentials (6.8)

Total and exact differentials (4.3, 6.8)

Polar coordinates (5.4)

Derivatives and gradients in polar coords (6.6)

Section 3: Vector Calculus II: Div and Curl (Sept. 20 -Oct. 18)
(Reading: Boas 5.1 - 5.5, 6.7, 6.9 - 6.11, 10.6, 10.9)

Double integrals (5.1, 5.2)

Surface integrals (5.5)

Flux (6.10)

Gauss' law (6.10)

Volume integrals (5.5, 6.10)

Div, divergence theorem (6.7, 6.10)

Second derivatives, Laplacian (6.7)

Curl, Stokes theorem (6.7, 6.11)

Conservative fields (6.11)

Other coordinates (5.4, 10.6, 10.9)

Section 4: Complex Numbers (Oct. 20 - Oct. 27)
(Reading: Boas Chapter 2)

Complex plane, notation (2.1 - 2.4)

Euler's formula, e^z (2.8 - 2.10)

More on exponential function (2.11, 2.14)

Applications (2.16)

Section 5: Fourier Analysis (Oct. 30 - Nov. 15)
(Reading: Boas Chapter 7, 15.4)

Simple harmonic motion, periodic functions (7.2)

Fourier series (7.3 - 7.4)

Fourier expansion (7.5)

Dirichlet conditions (7.6)

Complex Fourier series (7.7, 7.8)

Even and odd functions (7.9)

Applications of Fourier series (7.10)

Fourier transforms (15.4)

Section 6: Differential Equations (Nov. 17 - Dec. 13)
(Reading: Boas 8.1 - 8.6, Ch. 12, 13.1-13.6, [15.7])

First order differential equations (8.1 - 8.2)

Second order differential equations (8.5-8.6)

Series solutions (12.1)

Legendre's equation (12.2, 12.6)

Orthogonal functions (12.6)

Legendre polynomials (12.7,12.10)

Bessel functions (12.12 - 12.19)

Partial differential equations (13.1)

Laplace's equation (13.2)

Diffusion equation (13.3)

Wave equation (13.4)

Laplace's equation in cylindrical coordinates (13.5)

Bessel's equation in cylindrical coordinates (13.6)

And, assorted other (fun) topics - if we have time! Drums, Cauchy, chaos,...

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