Welcome to Introduction to Methods of Theoretical Physics. In this course we will use math to gain new insights into physical systems. Prerequisites are Physics I/II and Calculus I/II, or equivalent. This is the second time I've taught this course. The material will be more or less the same as last year but the format and textbooks are different.
Class meets three times a week. There will be two one-hour lectures on MW 10-10:50 in RI 211. On Fridays, class meets from 10-11:50 in SC 2C22 for interactive problem solving sessions. If you have a laptop, you should bring it to class on Friday. This room is equipped with desktops as well, however, which you can use instead.
The only required textbook for the course is Classical Mechanics with MAPLE by Ronald L. Greene. This is a paperback and isn't overly expensive. The first chapter is a very good introduction to MAPLE, especially for the sorts of problems we will do with it. You might also consider some other textbooks for additional help.
Unless you have already taken Intro to Differential Equations, I recommend that you register for Studio Differential Equations, MATH2400-01, with Prof. Siegmann, M/W 2-3:50. There is a lot of overlap of basic concepts between these two courses, including techniques for solving differential equations, and Prof. Siegmann and I are in touch regarding what each of us cover. You do not need to have a laptop computer to take this math course, but it would be useful if you had one. A nice note written about that course has many important truths that apply to this course as well.