Fall 2025 PY501 - Mathematical Physics
Syllabus
The syllabus is tentative and subject to changes and updates at any time.
Acronyms for references are as follows: SG - Stone & Goldbart; BF - Byron & Fuller; Sh - Shankar; AWH - Arfken, Weber & Harris; AvD - Altland & von Delft; C - Carroll; CB - Churchill & Brown; Co - Cowan. Numbers refer to relevant chapters.
| Date | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| W Sep 3 | Vectors, Covectors, Bases | SG10, AvD L10 and V |
| M Sep 8 | Metrics | SG10, AvD L10 and V |
| W Sep 10 | Tensors and Index Notation | SG10, AvD L10 and V |
| M Sep 15 | Special Tensors | SG10, AvD L10 and V |
| W Sep 17 | Tensor Decomposition; Diagonalization | SG10, AvD L10 and V / SGA7, AvD L7 |
| M Sep 22 | Diagonalization | SGA7, AvD L7 |
| W Sep 24 | Introduction to Calculus of Variations | SG1, BF2, AWH22 |
| M Sep 29 | Endpoint Variation, Noether’s Theorem | SG1, BF2, AWH22 |
| W Oct 1 | More Noether’s Theorem, Review | SG1, BF2, AWH22 |
| M Oct 6 | Midterm 1 | … |
| W Oct 8 | ||
| M Oct 13 | – | Indigeneous People’s Day |
| T Oct 14 | Substitute Monday schedule. | |
| W Oct 15 | ||
| M Oct 20 | ||
| W Oct 22 | ||
| M Oct 27 | … | |
| W Oct 29 | … | |
| M Nov 3 | Midterm 2 | |
| W Nov 5 | ||
| M Nov 10 | ||
| W Nov 12 | ||
| M Nov 17 | ||
| W Nov 19 | ||
| M Nov 24 | ||
| W Nov 26 | – | Thanksgiving Break |
| M Dec 1 | ||
| W Dec 3 | ||
| M Dec 8 | Final | … |