Lifshitz, Mechanics - a classic, like all of the Landau & Lifshitz texts The classical mechanics notes are great, but organized a little differently than this course. He has lecture notes on everything, freely available online. Tong, Lectures on Classical Dynamics - David Tong is the new Landau. Walecka, Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua - an excellent textbook, the one that was used when I was taught the subject. Text: Classical Mechanics (third edition) by H. Canonical transformations Hamilton-Jacobi theory action-angle variables.Rigid body motion and non-inertial reference frames.Hamiltonians and Hamilton's equations of motion.Symmetries and conservation laws:Noether's theorem.Variational methods and Hamilton's principle.D'Alembert's principle, Lagrangians, and Lagrange's equations of motion.Basic principles: The subtleties in Newton's laws.You are expected to master the major topics covered in the course and be able to solve relevant problems. Topics that are essential for understanding other branches of physics. Just stop by my office or arrange a meeting.Ĭlassical mechanics is a broad subject, and we will select topics thatĭevelop techniques for analyzing nontrivial classical systems, and Office hours: I am always happy to speak with students from the class. Physics 601, Fall 2021: Classical MechanicsĬlass schedule: M,W 11am-12:20pm, Small 122
