PHY 281

Audience

This course is part of the core graduate physics curriculum.   (See the curriculum guidelines) for more information.   Students not in the graduate physics program should obtain approval from the professor before enrolling.

Professor

Joshua Socolar -- Associate Professor of Physics

• E-mail: socolar@phy.duke.edu. (This is a good way to reach me.)
• Office:  Room 046, Physics Building
• Phone:  660-2557
• Office hours: Mondays, 10:00-11:30.

Teaching Assistant

Bryon Neufeld -- Second-year grad student

• E-mail: rbn2@phy.duke.edu
• Office:  Room 250H, Physics Building
• Phone:  660-2489
• Office hours:  Thursdays, 2:30-4:30.

Textbooks

Required:	Jose and Saletan (J+S):  Classical Dynamics  (2nd Edition).
On Reserve:	Goldstein:  Classical Mechanics. Landau and Lifshitz:  Mechanics. Marion and Thornton:  Classical Dynamics. Arnold:  Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics. Ott:  Chaos in Dynamical Systems.

Grading

Weekly homework	50%
Midterm Exam	20%
Final Exam	30%

Homework Policy

Assignments will be due at the beginning of class each Friday.   Students are strongly encouraged to discuss homework problems with each other.   Written solutions, however, must be produced individually.   It is unacceptable to turn in any work that is copied from another person, even if you worked out the problem jointly.

Schedule

A detailed, but tentative, schedule is available: Click here.