In this course we will study classical mechanics and electrodynamics. The concepts introduced in this class play a fundamental role in the foundations of physical theories and our understanding of the world. These concepts have reverberations throughout physics, and we will illustrate their relationship to more modern developments in the subject.
Schedule
Wednesdays, 09:50–12:15, Teaching Building 4, Room 4302.
Syllabus
- Kinematics
- Newton's laws of motion
- Energy and momentum conservation
- The harmonic oscillator
- Newtonian gravitation
- The Lagrangian formalism
- Electric fields
- Gauss' law
- Magnetic fields
- Faraday's law
- Maxwell equations
- Special relativity
Reference material
We will follow the Physics 0 lecture notes by Chi-Ming Chang, Qing-Rui Wang, and Fan Yang, distributed in class, together with David Tong's lectures: