1/8/07

Spring semester 2007

I. General Information

Instructor: M Howard Lee

A. Texts and References

Landau and Lifshitz, Goldstein. There are many excellent texts available
in the library. Some lecture notes may be provided.


B. Class Attendance--Full attendance expected as well as punctuality.

C. Homework

A set of exercise problems will be given roughly once a week or ten days
or so. The homework is to be turned in one week later from the date of
receipt. The solutions will be graded A, B and C: A=good, B= acceptable,
C=unacceptable.

It is important to do all the homework and do so timely. Failure to
submit the homework may result in a failing grade for the course.

D. Exams--Mid-term and Final

Exams will be based on the materials presented at the lectures and covered
in the homework.

F. Grades

Provided that all the homework has been submitted, the final grades will
be made up by 1/3 from the midterm exam and 2/3 from the final exam. In
borderline cases, the instructor will exercise discretion. The grades from
the homework and classroom participation will be the main factors.

G. Make-Up Classes

Occasionally the instructor must go out of town to attend conferences, to
give seminars and colloquia at other universities. The missed lectures will
be made up.

No lectures on: March 13 and 15, 2007 (Natal Brazil)--This is during the
spring break! There may be others to be announced later.

H. Office Hours

Any time preferably in the afternoon. No appointments needed.


II. Topics to be covered (tentative)

A. Chaos and chaotic dynamics

Logistic maps, classical ergodic theory

B. Motion of simple pendulum

Libration and rotation, elliptic integrals

C. Variational methods

Hamilton's principle, Lagrange's equations, canonical equations,
Hamilton-Jacobi equation, phase integrals and action-angle variables,
Liouville theorem

D. Small oscillations

Finite linear chains, infinite linear chains and applications to
lattice vibrations