PHYSICS 481
This website served the Winter 2007 term of the Math Physics II course. The course has completed, and the site is now closed. Feel free to browse through the site if you wish, but I don't guarantee all the links still work.
If you are looking for Math Physics III, you can find it here.
As discussed, we will resume class on Monday.
Homework 5 has been posted, and you can find it here. Note: Ignore problem 4. We haven't covered it yet.
The exams will be graded by Monday. Rather than go over the solutions in class, I've posted the solutions here. If you have any questions on them, just ask.
Update: Some notes on the Lagrangian can be found here. I will try to post more later.
Today we will look at how very rough approximations can lead to reasonable answers in physics.
Today we will look at how order of magnitude and dimensional analysis can be used to find and verify solutions to physics problems.
Today we will look at some physics problems where our new found skills are quite useful.
Today we will look at how to diagonalize a matrix. This is a very useful skill in physics.
From Jess Sorrell, as mentioned in class:
Below is a link to the gallery website as well as the university news article describing the gallery with information on its hours and location on the bottom. Catering to our ever decreasing attention spans, I will provide that information without the necessity of reading the entire article.
Gallery R
775 Park Ave
Rochester, NY 14607
Hours:
Thrs, Fri: 2-6 pm
Sat, Sun: 1-5 pm
Exhibit runs through Jan 12th
I'm trying to arrange a trip so that people without transportation might be able to enjoy the exhibit as well. The tentative date is Fri Dec 21 from 3-5 pm.
If anyone prefers another date or time, or has any questions, I may be contacted at sophieadmunsen@gmail.com.
Today we will look at the eigenvalue/eigenvector properties of square matrices. As we will see, these play a central role in quantum mechanics.
Today we will look at some general transformations of matrices, in particular orthogonal transformations.
We have seen how matrices can be used to solve linear equations. Today we will see what the general properties of matrices say about linear equations.
Matrices can be added, subtracted, multiplied, etc. We will look at how such mathematical operations are performed on matrices.
The second homework has been posted. You can find it here. You have until Monday the 17th to finish this one.
Today we will look at a special trick used in solving equations, known as Cramer's Rule
We have seen how a vanishing determinant is necessary to have a non-trivial solution to a set of equations. We will look at this in more detail.
Today we will look at coupled sets of linear equations. We will see how matrices can help us solve such equation sets.
The first homework has been posted. You can find it here. This is a shorter one, so the second one will be posted very soon. You have until the 12th to finish this one.
Today's lecture will start with a general introduction to the course. We will go over the syllabus and related items. We will then review some of the basic concepts from last term, particularly relating to vectors and matrices.
Welcome to the website for Math Physics 481. I'll use this site for all course related material and news. This first page will have recent news and announcements; for information on class topics, readings, exercises, and discussions you can use the outline menu item above, or click on a specific day in the calendar on the right.