Physics 501: Mathematical Physics I
Fall 2011
Lecture Schedule
Lecture Topic(s)
1 Intro, course overview, online resources
2 Linear vector spaces, dimension, basis, scalar product
3 Linear operators, matrices, coordinate transformations
4 Linear equations, eigenvalues, diagonalization
5 Application: normal modes; diagonalizability
6 LU and SV decomposition, applications
7 Numerical diagonalization, examples and applications
8 Complex functions, analytic functions, Cauchy's theorem
9 Cauchy integral formula and applications; Taylor series
10 Laurent series, poles, the residue theorem
11 Applications of the residue theorem
12 Jordan's lemma; more applications of the residue theorem
13 Examples; quantum mechanical scattering integrals
14 Review; more on QM scattering integrals
15 MID-TERM (October 24)
16 2nd order linear ODEs; singular points, series solutions
17 Series and second solutions to ODEs; Fuchs's theorem
18 Greens fuctions; self-adjoint operators
19 Sturm-Liouville theory; eigenfunctions; Fourier expansion
20 Mean square convergence; Fourier series
21 Numerical solution of ODEs, IV problems, RK methods
22 Numerical solution of ODEs, RK methods (continued)
23 Predictor-corrector schemes, time reversibility
24 Symplectic integrators; Bulirsch-Stoer methods
25 BV problems, shooting, relaxation
26 Integral transforms, Fourier series and transforms, examples
27 Fourier transforms, applications, convolution
28 Laplace transforms (brief), Discrete Fourier Transforms
29 The Fast Fourier transform
30 Applications of FFTs