Department of ___________________________ The LNM IIT, Jaipur

PHY3031 : Classical Mechanics and Field Theory

Programme: B.Tech. (CSE) Year: 3rd Semester : 1
Course : Open Credits : 3 Hours :40

Course Context and Overview (100 words):

Students will learn to use the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of Classical Mechanics to
solve problems in Mechanics. They will also learn Field Theory which is the fundamental tool to
understand all the fundamental forces of nature. This course will enable the students to learn the
field theoretic formulation of electromagnetism and gravity which are two of the fundamental
forces of nature.

Prerequisites Courses:

None

Course outcomes(COs):

On completion of this course, the students will have the ability to:
CO1 Use mathematical and physical principles to describe the laws governing classical
mechanics.

C02 Use the Lagrangian formulation to describe and understand the dynamics of particles.

C03 Use the Hamiltonian formulation to describe and understand the dynamics of particles

C04 Use the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations to describe and understand the
dynamics of continuous fields

C05 Acquire and use the knowledge of the Stress Energy Tensor, the Metric Tensor, the
Curvature Tensor and the General Theory of Relativity

Course Topics:

Introduction, Mechanics of a Particle, Mechanics of a System of Particles, Variational Principles

and Lagranges Equations, Hamiltons Principle, Techniques of the Calculus of Variations.

Derivation of Lagranges Equations from Hamiltons Principle, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian

Formulations for Continuous Systems and Fields, Transition from a Discrete to a Continuous
System, Stress-Energy Tensor, Relativistic Field Theory.

Electromagnetic Field, Maxwells equations, Action Functional for the Electromagnetic Field,
Energy Momentum Tensor of the Electromagnetic Field.

Course Design Template version 1.0

Department of ___________________________ The LNM IIT, Jaipur

Particle in a Gravitational Field, Curvilinear coordinates, Distances and Time Intervals,

Covariant Differentiation, Relation of Christoffel symbols to the metric tensor, Gravitational
Field, The Curvature Tensor, The Einstein Equations.

Textbook references (IEEE format):

Text Book:
The Classical Theory of Fields by L. Landau and E. Lifshitz.

Reference books:
Classical Mechanics by H. Goldstein, C. Poole and J. Safko

Additional Resources (NPTEL, MIT Video Lectures, Web resources etc.):

Evaluation Methods:
Activities Percentage
Mid Sem Exam 30
Attendance and Participation 20
End Sem Exam 50
Total 100

Prepared By:
Last Update: ________

Course Design Template version 1.0