Classical mechanics (Q2408115)

The book is written such that for each topic to be understood, each topic is presented with the minimum necessary material. This is good for those who do not like to waste time by reading unnecessary pages and pages discussing the same subject. The examples are very well chosen, they are the ones that every serious student of the subject must know. The additional problems are of high level but there are just a few of them. Chapter (sub-)headings are as follows: 1. Elementary Newtonian Mechanics (Newton's laws of motion; Single-particle mechanic; Systems of particles; Conservation laws; Non-inertial reference frames; Constrained systems). 2. Principle of Virtual Work and Lagrange's Equations (Newtonian approach to constrained systems: Holonomic and non-holonomic constraints; Principle of virtual work; Method of Lagrange multipliers; D'Alembert's principle; Lagrange's equations of the first and second kind; Generalized potentials). 3. Hamilton's Principle and Action Integrals (Hamilton's principle and its proof; Constrained variations; Conservation laws revisited; Hamilton's Equations; Legendre transform; Poisson brackets and canonical transformations; Applications of canonical transformations.; Transition to Quantum Mechanics). 4. Central Force Problems (General formalism; Orbit equation; Integrable solutions; Kepler's laws; Gravitation; Effective one-body problem; Classification of orbits; Equations of motion and their solutions; Kepler's equation; Fourier series solution; Virial theorem, Equations of state; Closed orbits 4.5.1 Driven harmonic oscillator equation; Nearly circular orbits (first-order and higher order perturbations); Another conserved quantity for inverse-square-law forces; Motion of the momentum vector in momentum space; Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector; Three-body problem). 5. Scattering (Review of collisions; The hard sphere; Differential cross section; Scattering of a beam of incident particles; Gravitational scattering; Rutherford scattering; Transformation to the Lab frame). 6. Rigid Body Kinematics (Generalized coordinates for a rigid body; Orthogonal transformations, rotation matrices and Euler angles; Euler's Theorem for rigid body motion; Finite rotation of a vector; Infinitesimal orthogonal transformations; Quaternion representation of rotations; Quaternions). 7. Rigid Body Dynamics (Angular momentum and kinetic energy of a rigid body; Rotational inertia tensor, principal axes; Euler's equations for rigid body motion; Solving Euler's equations for several examples). 8. Small Oscillations (One-dimensional oscillator; Coupled oscillations; Damped and driven coupled oscillations). 9. Wave Equation (Transition from discrete to continuous systems; Vibrating string; One-dimensional wave equation; String with fixed endpoints; Periodic boundary conditions; Infinite boundary conditions; Three-dimensional wave equation). 10. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Formulations for Continuous Systems and Fields (Lagrangian density; Hamiltonian density; Equations of motion; Conserved quantities; Stress-energy tensor; Noether's Theorem and proof). 11. Special Relativity (Why do we need special relativity?; \(k\) calculus; Some consequences of special relativity; Lorentz transformations and the Poincaré group; Spacetime line element and 4-vectors; Causal structure; Relativistic kinematics; Relativistic dynamics; Relativistic Lagrangian formalism; Relativistic field theory). Appendix A: Vector Calculus. B: Differential Forms. C: Calculus of Variations D: Linear Algebra. E: Special Functions.