MAS6431   Analytical Dynamics and Classical Field Theory   (20 credits)

Description

This module is lectured alongside the undergraduate module MAS412 of the same name. Mathematicians like Lagrange, Hamilton and Jacobi discovered that underlying Newton's mechanics are wonderful mathematical structures. In the first semester we discuss this work, its influence on the subsequent formulation of field theory, and Noether's theorem relating symmetries and conservation laws.In the second semester, Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity, will be introduced, preceded by mathematical tools such as covariant derivatives and curvature tensors. Einstein's field equations, and two famous solutions, will be derived. Two classic experimental tests of General Relativity will be discussed.

Reading List