Physics 301, Mathematical Physics     (Fall, 2005)

 

Instructor:

            Jie Yang           Cook A525;     Phone: 656-0061;  e-mail: jyang@uvm.edu                  

 

Schedule:

                        Lecture TR       9:30 — 10:45 AM       Cook 531

 

Textbook:

Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering. 2nd Ed.  By KF Riley, MP Hobson and SJ Bence.

 

Reading:

             You need to read the materials in the text a great deal before and after classes.  We will go over major concepts in the text and show details of how to solve problems.       

 

Homework:

            There will be homework assignments after each chapter and these assignments will be given in classes.  You are expected to work all problems in homework assignments.  I will grade 50% to 70% of the problems picking at random, and provide complete solutions.     

 

Homework Assigments


Exams:

            Two take-home exams: a midterm (target: 10/13 assigning and 10/18 collecting) and a final (Assigning at end of class, the latest to turn in on 12/15).  

 

Grades:

            The two exams count 66% of the final grade (33% each).  The average of homework counts 34%.     

 

Office hours:

            Monday:           10:00 — 11:30 AM                 Friday:              10:00 –– 11:30 AM

 

Coverage:

            I plan to cover about twenty one chapters of the textbook in detail.  If time allows, we may discuss materials in later chapters.  Major topics involved are the following.

  • Review of basic calculus
  • Complex numbers and functions
  • Series and limits
  • Partial differentiation and multiple integrals
  • Vectors, matrices and vector calculus
  • Line, surface and volume integrals
  • Fourier series and integral transforms
  • Differential equations
  • Partial differential equations
  • Complex variables
  • Tensors