PHY311 Mechanik

The following materials and additional information will be available on OLAT: script, slides presented during the lectures, Zoom link for streaming, Zoom recordings.

In order to pass the module each of the following requirements must be met:

• 33% of the available points of exercises 1-7
• 33% of the available points of exercises 8-13
• 50% of the available points of exercises 1-13
• pass the exam

Rooms and schedule

For the coordinates of lecture and tutorials see the  UZH lecture calendar

Language

Lecture and exercises in English

Main Topics

• Kinematics and dynamics of a system of point-like masses
• Coordinate transformations and moving coordinate systems
• Conservation laws
• Kepler problem
• Rigid-body dynamics
• Lagrangian Mechanics and constraints
• Variational principles
• Symmetries and conservation laws
• Hamiltonian equations of motion
• Canonical transformations and Hamilton-Jacobi theory

Literature

The lecture is mainly based on

• H. Goldstein: Classical Mechanics

• David Tong: Lectures on Classical Dynamics (Available here)

• Script by Prof. Gino Isidori (available on OLAT)

In addition the following books are suggested

• V.I. Arnold: Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics
• L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifschitz: Mechanics (Course in Theoretical Physics Vol. 1)
• W. Greiner: Classical Mechanics (as exercise book)

Exercise groups

The students are split into two groups as follows

• Group 1: last name starting with letters A-M
• Group 2: last name starting with letters N-Z

If needed the two groups will be rebalanced after the first week. Note that the tutorials for groups 1 and 2 take place at different times as specified in the UZH course catalogue
 

The first tutorial takes place for everybody in room Y22 F62 on Wednesday 21.9 at 15:00

Workflow of exercises

There will be 13 exercises and the workflow for the N^th exercise is as follows

• Tuesday of week N: publication of problems on OLAT at 4 PM
• Wednesday of week N: preliminary discussion and hints during the tutorials
• Monday of week N+1: deadline for submitting solutions via OLAT at 5 PM
• Wednesday of week N+1: discussion of solutions during the tutorials

If desired, the solutions can be handed in in groups of two students

Investing a significant amount of time for solving the exercises during the semester is crucial for the understanding of the lecture and plays a very important role as a preparation for the written exam!

Date and place: Friday February 10, 9:00-12:00

Format: written exam (problems)

Detailed information: will be available in due time on OLAT

Repetition exam: the date will be fixed at the end of the Semester