- #1
Elvis 123456789
- 158
- 6
Hello everyone. So I wanted to get some opinions on what some of you thought was a better choice, as far taking PDE's or classical mechanics 2 goes. First let me start off by giving a little info; I've already taken calc 1-3 and ordinary differential equations, physics 1 & 2, thermodynamics/statistical mechanics, modern physics with a modern lab class, and classical mechanics 1. I want to go to grad school in physics, but I am pretty sure that I don't want to be an experimentalist. I do enjoy programming and data analysis, just not messing with instrumentation or taking direct measurements with instruments. So when I apply to grad school it'll either be for computational physics or some area of theoretical physics. My schedule for next semester, as of right now, is the following
Adv Classical Mechanics - Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, rigid body dynamics, coupled oscillators and normal modes, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, collision theory, continuum mechanics, and special relativity.
Methods in Theoretical Physics - Methods in theoretical physics and theoretical applications in physics. Includes analytic and numerical methods for differential equations, integral equations and transformations and other applications of real analysis.
Intro To Advanced Math - opics include: naive set theory, functions, cardinality, sequences of real numbers and limits. Emphasis on formal proofs
Advanced Differential Equations - A second course in differential equations. Topics may include: Bessel functions and other special functions arising from classical differential equations, Sturm-Liouville problems, partial differential equations, transform techniques.
Linear Algebra - An introduction to the topics in linear algebra most often used in applications. Topics include: matrices and their applications; simultaneous linear equations and elementary operations; linear dependence; vector spaces; rank and inverses; inner products and `best¿ approximations; numerical solutions of simultaneous linear equations; eigen-values and eigenvectors; iterative methods for calculating eigenvalues; and systems of linear equations.
The only class from those above that is actually required for me is the methods in theoretical physics class. I could take all five at the same time, but that seems a little overkill for me. So I was looking to either ditch the PDE's class or the classical mechanics 2 one; what do you guys think?
Adv Classical Mechanics - Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, rigid body dynamics, coupled oscillators and normal modes, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, collision theory, continuum mechanics, and special relativity.
Methods in Theoretical Physics - Methods in theoretical physics and theoretical applications in physics. Includes analytic and numerical methods for differential equations, integral equations and transformations and other applications of real analysis.
Intro To Advanced Math - opics include: naive set theory, functions, cardinality, sequences of real numbers and limits. Emphasis on formal proofs
Advanced Differential Equations - A second course in differential equations. Topics may include: Bessel functions and other special functions arising from classical differential equations, Sturm-Liouville problems, partial differential equations, transform techniques.
Linear Algebra - An introduction to the topics in linear algebra most often used in applications. Topics include: matrices and their applications; simultaneous linear equations and elementary operations; linear dependence; vector spaces; rank and inverses; inner products and `best¿ approximations; numerical solutions of simultaneous linear equations; eigen-values and eigenvectors; iterative methods for calculating eigenvalues; and systems of linear equations.
The only class from those above that is actually required for me is the methods in theoretical physics class. I could take all five at the same time, but that seems a little overkill for me. So I was looking to either ditch the PDE's class or the classical mechanics 2 one; what do you guys think?