Physics 466, Fall 2019 Physical Mathematics

Welcome to physics 466 for 2019.

Class meets in room 184 of the physics building at 1919 Lomas NE at 5:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The problem session for the course, physics 468, will meet in room 5 from 5 to 5:50 and not in room 1131 as originally scheduled.

We will be using the second edition of a textbook called Physical Mathematics published this summer by Cambridge University Press.
You can get it now from Amazon and eBooks.
The book is now available in the UNM bookstore.

Here is Chapter 1.

Here is Chapter 2.

Here is Chapter 3.

A list of errata in the second edition of Physical Mathematics.
Corrected and improved version of Example 4.13 (Lifetime of a Fluorophore).

SYLLABUS
Here is what I plan to cover in this course:
Linear algebra:             2 weeks
Vector calculus              0.5
Fourier series:                1.5
Fourier transforms:        1.5
Infinite series:               1
Complex variables:       3
Differential equations:  3
Integral equations:        0.5
Legendre polynomials:  1.5
Bessel functions:            1.5
These are the first ten chapters of the book.

All homework problems are stated in the book Physical Mathematics. Put homework in Evgeni Zlatanov's mailbox by 3:00 PM on its due date, usually a Friday. You can send him e-mail.
I will be doing some of the homework problems during the weekly problem sessions which are held on Wednesdays at 5 pm in room 5.
You can send me e-mail.

Homework 1 due Friday 30 August:
Do problems 1-3, 5-7, & 9-14 of chapter 1.
Homework 2 due Friday 6 September:
Do problems 15-22, 25, 27-31 of chapter 1.
Homework 3 due Tuesday 17 September:
Do problems 1.32-1.36 and 1.40 and 2.2-2.6 of chapter 2.
Homework 4 due Friday 27 September:
Do problems 3.1, 3.2, 3.4-3.12, and for extra credit 3.16-3.21 of chapter 3.
Homework 5 due Friday 4 October:
Do problems 4.1-4.9 of chapter 4.
Homework 6 due Tuesday 15 October:
Do problems 4.10-4.18 of chapter 4.
Homework 7 due Friday 25 October:
Do problems 5.1-5.5 of chapter 5 and problems 6.1, 6.3, 6.5, and 6.6 of chapter 6.
Homework 8 due Friday 1 November:
Do problems 6.7, 6.8, 6.11, 6.13, 6.15, 6.16, 6.20, and 6.24 of chapter 6.
Homework 8 due Friday 8 November:
Do problems 6.28, 6.30, 6.33, 6.34, 6.35, and 6.38 of chapter 6, and 7.2 and 7.9 of chapter 7.
Homework 9 due Friday 15 November:
Do problems 7.10 -- 7.15, 7.17, and 7.19.
Homework 10 due Monday 25 November:
Do problems 7.25 -- 7.27, 7.29--7.30, and 7.32--7.34.
Homework 11 due Monday 9 December:
Do problems 9.2 (but only for \(n=0, 1,\) and 2), 9.8, 9.14, 9.17, 9.18, 10.1, 10.3, 10.13, 10.15, 10.18.

There will be a midterm exam on the Thursday, 17 October, after fall break.
The final exam is on Thursday 12 December from 5:30 to 7:30 in our regular classroom 1160.

Videos of lectures:
20 August
Linear algebra: Sections 1.1 Numbers, 1.2 Arrays, 1.3 Matrices, 1.4 Vectors, 1.5 Linear operators, 1.6 Inner products, 1.7 Cauchy–Schwarz inequalities, and 1.8 Linear independence and completeness.
22 August
1.9 Dimension of a vector space, 1.10 Orthonormal vectors, 1.11 Outer products, 1.12 Dirac notation, 1.13 Adjoints of operators, 1.14 Self-adjoint or hermitian linear operators, 1.15 Real, symmetric linear operators.
27 August
1.16 Unitary operators, 1.17 Hilbert spaces, 1.18 Antiunitary and antilinear operators, 1.19 Symmetry in quantum mechanics, 1.20 Determinants, 1.21 Jacobians, 1.22 Systems of linear equations, 1.23 Linear least squares, and 1.24 Lagrange multipliers.
29 August
1.24 Lagrange multipliers, 1.25 Eigenvectors and eigenvalues, 1.26 Eigenvectors of a square matrix, 1.27 A matrix obeys its characteristic equation, 1.28 Functions of matrices, and. 1.29 Hermitian matrices.
3 September
1.30 Normal matrices, 1.31 Compatible normal matrices, 1.32 Singular-value decompositions, 1.33 Moore-Penrose pseudoinverses, 1.34 Tensor products and entanglement, 1.35 Density operators, 1.36 Schmidt decomposition, 1.37 Correlation functions, 1.38 Rank of a matrix, and 1.39 Software.
5 September
2.1 Derivatives and partial derivatives, 2.2 Gradient, 2.3 Divergence, 2.4 Laplacian, and 2.5 Curl
10 September
3.1 Fourier series, 3.2 The interval, 3.3 Where to put the 2pi’s, 3.4 Real Fourier series for real functions, 3.5 Stretched intervals, 3.6 Fourier series of functions of several variables, 3.7 Integration and differentiation of Fourier series, and 3.8 How Fourier series converge.
12 September
3.9 Measure and Lebesgue integration, 3.10 Quantum-mechanical examples, 3.11 Dirac’s delta function, 3.12 Harmonic oscillators, 3.13 Nonrelativistic strings, and 3.14 Periodic boundary conditions.
19 September
4.1 Fourier transforms, 4.2 Fourier transforms of real functions, 4.3 Dirac, Parseval, and Poisson, 4.4 Derivatives and integrals of Fourier transforms, 4.5 Fourier transforms of functions of several variables, 4.6 Convolutions, 4.7 Fourier transform of a convolution, 4.8 Fourier transforms and Green’s functions, 4.9 Laplace transforms, 4.10 Derivatives and integrals of Laplace transforms, 4.11 Laplace transforms and differential equations, and 4.12 Inversion of Laplace transforms.
24 September
Review of Sections 4.1-4.12 and discussion of Section 4.13 Application to differential equations.
26 September
5.1 Convergence, 5.2 Tests of convergence, 5.3 Convergent series of functions, 5.4 Power series, and 5.5 Factorials and the gamma function.
1 October
5.5 Factorials and the gamma function, 5.6 Euler’s beta function, 5.7 Taylor series, 5.8 Fourier series as power series, 5.9 Binomial series, 5.10 Logarithmic series, 5.11 Dirichlet series and the zeta function, 5.12 Bernoulli numbers and polynomials, 5.13 Asymptotic series, 5.14 Fractional and complex derivatives, 5.15 Some electrostatic problems, 5.16 Infinite products, 6.1 Analytic functions, 6.2 Cauchy-Riemann conditions, and 6.3 Cauchy’s integral theorem.
3 October
6.1 Analytic functions, 6.2 Cauchy-Riemann conditions, 6.3 Cauchy’s integral theorem, 6.4 Cauchy’s integral formula, and 6.5 Harmonic functions.
8 October
6.5 Harmonic functions, 6.6 Taylor series for analytic functions, 6.7 Cauchy’s inequality, 6.8 Liouville’s theorem, 6.9 Fundamental theorem of algebra, 6.10 Laurent series, 6.11 Singularities, 6.12 Analytic continuation, and 6.13 Calculus of residues.
15 October
6.14 Ghost contours, 6.15 Logarithms and cuts, 6.16 Powers and roots, 6.17 Conformal mapping, 6.18 Cauchy’s principal value, and 6.19 Dispersion relations.
22 October
Sections 6.19 Dispersion relations, 6.20 Kramers-Kronig relations, 6.21 Phase and group velocities, and 6.22 Method of steepest descent.
24 October
7.1 Ordinary linear differential equations, 7.2 Linear partial differential equations, 7.3 Separable partial differential equations, 7.4 First-order differential equations, and 7.5 Separable first-order differential equations.
29 October
7.6 Hidden separability, 7.7 Exact first-order differential equations, 7.8 Meaning of exactness, 7.9 Integrating factors, 7.10 Homogeneous functions, 7.11 Virial theorem, and 7.12 Legendre’s transform.
31 October
7.12 Legendre’s transform, 7.13 Principle of stationary action in mechanics, 7.14 Symmetries and conserved quantities in mechanics, 7.15 Homogeneous first-order ordinary differential equations, 7.16 Linear first-order ordinary differential equations, 7.17 Small oscillations, 7.18 Systems of ordinary differential equations, 7.19 Exact higher-order differential equations, and 7.20 Constant-coefficient equations.
5 November
7.21 Singular points of second-order ordinary differential equations, 7.22 Frobenius’s series solutions, 7.23 Fuch’s theorem, 7.24 Even and odd differential operators, 7.25 Wronski’s determinant, 7.26 Second solutions, 7.27 Why not three solutions?, 7.28 Boundary conditions, 7.29 A variational problem, and 7.30 Self-adjoint differential operators.
7 November
Introduction to Maxima by Logan Cordonnier, 7.31 Self-adjoint differential systems, 7.32 Making operators formally self adjoint, 7.33 Wronskians of self-adjoint operators, 7.34 First-order self-adjoint differential operators, and 7.35 A constrained variational problem.
12 November
7.35 A constrained variational problem, 7.36 Eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of self-adjoint systems, 7.37 Unboundedness of eigenvalues, 7.38 Completeness of eigenfunctions, 7.39 Inequalities of Bessel and Schwarz, 7.40 Green’s functions, 7.41 Eigenfunctions and Green’s functions, and 7.42 Green’s functions in one dimension.
14 November
7.43 Principle of stationary action in field theory, 7.44 Symmetries and conserved quantities in field theory, 7.45 Nonlinear differential equations, 7.46 Nonlinear differential equations in cosmology, and 7.47 Nonlinear differential equations in particle physics.
19 November
8.1 Differential equations as integral equations, 8.2 Fredholm integral equations, 8.3 Volterra integral equations, 8.4 Implications of linearity, 8.5 Numerical solutions, 8.6 Integral transformations, and 9.1 Legendre’s polynomials, 9.2 The Rodrigues formula, 9.3 Generating function for Legendre polynomials, 9.4 Legendre’s differential equation, 9.5 Recurrence relations, 9.6 Special values of Legendre polynomials, 9.7 Schlaefli’s integral, and 9.8 Orthogonal polynomials.
21 November
9.8 Orthogonal polynomials, 9.9 Azimuthally symmetric laplacians, 9.10 Laplace’s equation in two dimensions, 9.11 Helmholtz’s equation in spherical coordinates, 9.12 Associated Legendre polynomials, 9.13 Spherical harmonics, 9.14 Cosmic microwave background radiation, and 10.1 Cylindrical Bessel functions of the first kind.
26 November
Bessel functions of the first kind, Bessel functions of the second kind, Bessel functions of the third kind, Spherical Bessel functions of the first kind, and Spherical Bessel functions of the second kind.
3 December
Solutions to some of the exercises of the chapter on Legendre polynomials and spherical harmonics, and a quick introduction to general relativity.
5 December
Solutions to some of the exercises on Bessel functions.



All students of physics should read at least the first section of the essay The Trouble with Quantum Mechanics by Steven Weinberg before they graduate.