Day 2 part 2
Physics 44 -- mechanics
This class spent more time going over the syllabus, books, etc. The class is a good size, and by show of hands, contains a similar number of sophomores, junior, and seniors. I also may be the only person for whom this is my first class in the 41-44 sequence. The class looks like it'll be the most math intensive physics class I've taken -- the prof recommended getting a book on mathematics for physics. I already have Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics sitting around, and it looks to cover what I'll need to know. I bought it as part of an amazon order some time ago -- it was well reviewed and cheap thanks to Dover books. After the introduction, we dived into material we'll learn a few weeks from now. We derived newton's second law from the principle of least action. It was ugly, but I followed most of it. Anyhow, classical mechanics is probably the least exciting branch of physics, but the prof seems good and the class looks solid.
Math 38 -- graph theory
There's not much to say about the class so far. The prof is young, spanish, and somewhat soft spoken. From what I can tell, he hasn't done much teaching, which is a mixed bag. After the standard first day of class stuff, he listed a few of the big graph theory problems (Konigsbeg bridges, traveling salesman, four color) and then dived right in to definitions. This was all boring to me, but at this point none of it was new. I recall that day one of graphs in prof Grood's class was full of definitions too, so I was expecting that. The prof seems very laid back, perhaps too much so. He used the phrase "I guess" many times too -- as in "I guess the complement of a graph is..." Although I'm willing to believe he says that because english is his second language, but it's still sort of disconcerting.
This class spent more time going over the syllabus, books, etc. The class is a good size, and by show of hands, contains a similar number of sophomores, junior, and seniors. I also may be the only person for whom this is my first class in the 41-44 sequence. The class looks like it'll be the most math intensive physics class I've taken -- the prof recommended getting a book on mathematics for physics. I already have Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics sitting around, and it looks to cover what I'll need to know. I bought it as part of an amazon order some time ago -- it was well reviewed and cheap thanks to Dover books. After the introduction, we dived into material we'll learn a few weeks from now. We derived newton's second law from the principle of least action. It was ugly, but I followed most of it. Anyhow, classical mechanics is probably the least exciting branch of physics, but the prof seems good and the class looks solid.
Math 38 -- graph theory
There's not much to say about the class so far. The prof is young, spanish, and somewhat soft spoken. From what I can tell, he hasn't done much teaching, which is a mixed bag. After the standard first day of class stuff, he listed a few of the big graph theory problems (Konigsbeg bridges, traveling salesman, four color) and then dived right in to definitions. This was all boring to me, but at this point none of it was new. I recall that day one of graphs in prof Grood's class was full of definitions too, so I was expecting that. The prof seems very laid back, perhaps too much so. He used the phrase "I guess" many times too -- as in "I guess the complement of a graph is..." Although I'm willing to believe he says that because english is his second language, but it's still sort of disconcerting.
1 Comments:
Ask you physics prof what he thinks of the Dover mechanics book you bought. Dover books are great buys pricewise, and some of them are excellent classics, but some of them are out of date even if they are classics. That is, the notation has completely changed, or there is a better way to go about the material now..
Going to the prof will also give you a chance to introduce yourself. (Well, you could ask this question by email but a personal visit is more effective in making the prof aware of you.) You should indicate that this is your first 41-44 course, explain how that happened, and ask if there is any problem about that, or anything that you should especially work on as a result.
By the way, you are now beyond my physics knowledge. I have been aware that there are Lagrangian and Hamiltonian reformulations of mechanics, and that some of them provide the right way to generalize to quantum mechanics or relativistic mechanics; but I have never learned what these reformulations are. I'll look at the Wikipedia article you referenced. I can do the bead problem there (find a formula p(t) for the position of the bead with time) using the conservation of energy, but I don't directly use a Lagrangian. I did once read a physics book which showed how to sum equal and opposite forces over all points in a constrained mass to figure out the mechanics, but I don't think it mentioned Lagrangians or Hamiltonians.
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