• Any prize structure can be usefully viewed through a lens that includes politics, power, privilege, identity, diversity, equity, and access. Nevertheless, the Nobel Prizes in science do reflect important advances in the field.
• The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2016 was awarded for “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”. A popular science level explanation is available here and a more advanced explanation is available here.
• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2016 was awarded for “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines”. A popular science level explanation is available here and a more advanced explanation is available here.
• Both topics this year involve topology (that’s not as clear from the brief title for the chemistry prize), so there’s a wonderful application of a pure math topic to the physical world (sorry, pure mathematicians).

• (edited to add) One of your classmates sent this link http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/science/deborah-jin-obituary.html?_r=0%5C.
• It seems appropriate to link to these resources as well (let me know if this deserves its own post and if you can give me more resources like this to post):
  • Woman Physicist of the Month
  • Bouchet Award
  • The Mathematicians Project

• The Putnam Competition will be held on Sat. Dec. 3 from 8 – 11 am and 1 – 4 pm.
• From math faculty Brian Walter: “The exam consists of 12 questions, 6 in the morning session and 6 in the afternoon. There are usually a couple of problems that don’t require knowledge of any particularly advanced mathematics. The median score is usually 0, though, so it’s a tough exam.”
• From Krishna: I don’t like to think of it as an exam, or a competition, but more as an experience. In some circles, it’s a talking point to say “I got a 0 on the Putnam”.
• If you are interested, please email Krishna and Vauhn by Thursday noon.

• Here is an updated and corrected version of Mathematica Lab 2.
• Please note that there are some important corrections in Part 4, that effectively replace the original lab handout entirely. Since the info in Part 4 gives you a check for your work on Problem 2.55 (which is due for homework), these are important corrections. I apologize for my mistakes on the original handout.
• The lab is to be completed and saved to your program share Cubbie by Friday October 7 for faculty feedback. Mostly, I’ll be looking for the nicely organized table of results for Problem 2.22, to be completed as Part 2 of the lab. Part 4 of the lab supports Problem 2.55, which is part of Classical Mechanics Homework #3, so I’ll see that there. I will also be interested to see if you made any progress on the optional challenge extension Part 5.

Classical Mechanics Homework Assignment #3, due by 5 pm Thursday October 6 to Krishna’s office Lab 2 3255. All problems from Taylor except as indicated.

1. 2.38 (see note)
2. 2.42 (see note)
3. 2.55 (see note)
4. 3.5 (see hints)
5. 3.13
6. 3.20 (see note)

Note for 2.38, 2.42, 2.55: Start from Newton’s second law to get the differential equation. Solve the differential equation. You may use (without proof) integrals from the inside front cover of Taylor (for an optional extension, you may want to deduce the integrals). Use the book or your notes to help you out when you get stuck, but use these problems as an opportunity to practice solving differential equations and gain familiarity with some of the new math in this chapter.

Hints for 3.5: If bold-face and underline denotes a vector, then a is a vector. Note that (a + b)² should be understood as (a + b)•(a + b), where • is the dot product, which equals a•a + a•b + b•a + b•b. (You can use this distributive property of dot products without proof, but for an optional extension, you may want to prove this from the algebraic definition of dot products).

Note for 3.20: Start with the definition of center of mass, in equation (3.9).

PSAM students who completed summer research projects will be presenting on that work this week. One such presentation will occur in the break between the morning and afternoon classes on Tuesday October 4. If you don’t have other commitments, please plan to stay until 11:45.

You might find the following talk interesting. Attendance not required.

Professor Martin Flashman (Humboldt State University) will speak on Wed. Oct. 5 at 1pm in Sem 2 A2105.

Title: “Making Sense of Calculus and Differential Equations with Mapping Diagrams: A Visual Alternative to Graphs”

Abstract: Mapping diagrams are an important underutilized alternative to graphs for visualizing functions. Starting from basics, Professor Flashman will demonstrate some of his assaults on the challenges of visualizing differential and integral calculus and differential equations using mapping diagrams. Knowledge of at least one semester of calculus will be presumed.

Hello Mathematica-ns! I’ve heard from several of you that MMA is down this evening Thu. Sep. 29. If you are able to finish the MMA Lab 1 assignment on time, great. If you can’t because of the access issues, don’t fret –  take an extension until Tuesday’s MMA lab time, and I’ll check your responses to Taylor 1.50 and 1.51 right at the beginning of the MMA lab.

Classical Mechanics Homework Assignment #2, due by 5 pm Monday October 3 to the box outside Krishna’s office Lab 2 3255. All problems from Taylor except as indicated.

1. 1.45 (see hint below)
2. 2.11
3. 2.13
4. 2.14
5. 2.19
6. 2.20
7. (optional extension). In 2.20, you drew trajectories for fixed speed and angle but different drag coefficients and compared to no drag. For this optional extension, draw trajectories for fixed speed and drag coefficient, but different angles and compare to trajectories for no drag for the same angle. Pick enough angles between 0 and pi/2 so you can get a sense of the deviations of including drag compared to no drag. For which angle(s) is the range between the drag and no-drag case the largest? Is this consistent with equation (2.44)?

Hint for 1.45: If v(t) has constant magnitude, then v(t)·v(t) (note the dot indicating dot product) is also constant. Note that v·v = v² (by definition, I think).

You can access the Week 2 Classical Mechanics Reading Response here.

Submit by 9am Mon. Oct. 3. Your answers should be brief! Otherwise this will take hours to complete. Type up your answers in a separate text file that you should save with a useful file name, then copy and paste those answers into the text boxes in the form. I have the sense that this might be too big an assignment, so I’ll ask you about your experience on Monday. It might be the case that trying to cover the whole week’s reading on one Reading Response is not actually manageable, in which case we’ll figure out a new plan.

The questions generally follow this form:

1. Big Concept: For the relevant sections, what are the main physics concepts/ideas? Make sure to also note which (if any) physics concepts are new to you. (Try to just use words here and minimize invoking equations, but don’t stress if you find it more convenient to use or refer to an equation.)
2. Big Math: For these sections, what are the major mathematical tools/formulas? Make sure to also note which (if any) math concepts or methods are new to you. Here, feel free to refer to equation numbers or page numbers, and do your best to convey the meaning of the equations in everyday language. Again, don’t stress if you need to be technical. You should make sure that you have the important equations clearly written out and explained in your notes, though.
3. Examples: As specifically as you can, describe any challenges you had in understanding the Examples in these sections.
4. Questions: Describe in detail your questions/confusions from these sections.

I’ve grouped related sections together:

• 2.4 Quadratic Air Resistance
• 2.5 Motion of a Charge in a Uniform Magnetic Field, 2.6 Complex Exponentials, 2.7 Solution for the Charge in a B Field
• 3.1 Conservation of Momentum, 3.2 Rockets
• 3.3 The Center of Mass
• 3.4 Angular Momentum for a Single Particle, 3.5 Angular Momentum for Several Particles
• 4.1 Kinetic Energy and Work, 4.2 Potential Energy and Conservative Forces

Some QuaSR support for PSAM is available:

• Classical Mechanics: Sun noon – 5pm
• Differential Equations: Mon 6 – 8pm; Tue 5 – 8pm
• Multivariable & Vector Calculus: Sun noon – 5pm; Mon 11am – 3pm; Mon 6 – 8pm; Tue 5 – 8pm; Wed 11am – 1pm

Program tutors are available over the next few days as follows (we’ll optimize times once things settle down, so these are not necessarily the permanent times):