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MAU22402 Advanced classical mechanics II

Module Code MAU22402
Module Title Advanced classical mechanics II
Semester taught Semester 2
ECTS Credits 5
Module Lecturer Prof. Chaolun Wu
Module Prerequisites MAU22401 Advanced classical mechanics I

Assessment Details

  • This module is examined in a 2-hour examination at the end of Semester 2.
  • Continuous assessment contributes 35% towards the overall mark.
  • The module is passed if the overall mark for the module is 40% or more. If the overall mark for the module is less than 40% and there is no possibility of compensation, the module will be reassessed as follows: 
    1) A failed exam in combination with passed continuous assessment will be reassessed by an exam in the supplemental session; 
    2) The combination of a failed exam and failed continuous assessment is reassessed by the supplemental exam; 
    3) A failed continuous assessment in combination with a passed exam will be reassessed by one or more summer assignments in advance of the supplemental session.

Contact Hours

11 weeks of teaching with 3 lectures and 1 tutorial per week.

Module Content

  • Special theory of relativity.
  • Hamilton formalism: Legendre transform, Hamilton equations, Liouville theorem.
  • Canonical transformations.
  • Hamilton-Jacobi equations, action-angle variables.
  • Perturbation theory.
  • Mechanics of continuous systems and fields.

Required Reading

  • L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz, Mechanics, Butterworth-Heinemann.
  • Goldstein, Poole, and Safko, Classical Mechanics, 3rd edition, Addison Wesley.

Recommended Reading

  • Wolfgang Rindler, Introduction to Special Relativity, 2nd edition, Oxford Science Publications.
  • L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz, The Classical Theory of Fields: Volume 2 (Course of Theoretical Physics Series), Butterworth-Heinemann.