- Spring 2020
Syllabus Description:
Overview
This is the Spring 2020 offering of Phys 227 A. Because of the shift to online-only teaching this quarter, the nature of the course will be modified from previous offerings, particularly regarding grading. The central goal will be to deliver the content while maintaining flexibility. With this in mind, there will be no closed-book/timed exams or quizzes. There will be a take-home midterm exam, a final project, and typically 2 problem sets per week. The final grade will be determined by the following weights:
60% Problem sets, 15% Midterm, 25% Final project
Problem Sets: There will typically be 2 problem sets per week, each of which will have a different style. The first is a traditional problem set where the questions will be posted 1 week in advance, and you are welcome to remotely discuss and work with classmates (though you need to submit your own work). The second functions in place of an in-class quiz. In this spirit, it will be designed to take approximately 20 minutes and intended to be completed alone. Questions will be posted at least 24 hours before the problem set is due. Your final grade will be computed by dropping the lowest scoring problem set of each type (x.1 and x.2). The long problem sets will account for 45% of your final grade and the short problem sets will account for 15% of your final grade.
Midterm: The midterm exam will be in the form of an extended problem set due on 5/14. It will be announced at least 4 days prior to its due date to ensure ample time for you to complete it.
Final Project: There will be a final project in place of an exam. The final project will be posted during the week of 5/11. While the details will be specified at that time, it will involve analyzing a "real-world" dataset and writing a report. The scope of the analysis will cover material from throughout the course, and the results submitted as a 5-page written report (with any relevant code as an appendix).
Course Textbook and Content
The course will cover content in "Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences," (3rd Edition, Wiley) by Mary L. Boas. Chapters 1-4 and 6-7 will be explicitly covered, while chapter 5 is assumed background material. The broad categories covered are: Series, Complex Numbers, Linear Algebra, Partial Differentiation, Vector Analysis, and Fourier Analysis.
Course Schedule
Below is a tentative schedule for the course. The sequence of content is intended to closely follow previous offerings of the course (click here for an example). Because of the complexity of teaching online and because of challenges arising from unreliable internet connections, all lectures will be prerecorded and posted the day before it is scheduled. During the official lecture time (1:30-2:20 pm) I will be available in a Zoom meeting to address any questions that arise from the recorded content.
The first week will be structured to smoothly ramp up the content delivery given the new style. The first day (3/31) will briefly introduce the course and leave ample time for discussion about the upcoming course content.
On Friday of each week, at the scheduled lecture time, one of the TAs will provide a Mathematica tutorial along with office hours.
| Week of | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 3/30 | No Class | Introduction/ course overview | No Class | Series | Mathematica & office hours |
| 4/6 | Series | Series | Series | Series, PS1.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 4/13 | Complex | Complex, PS 2.1 due | Complex | Complex, PS 2.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 4/20 | Forced, damped oscillator | Vectors, PS 3.1 due | Vectors | Matrices, PS 3.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 4/27 | Matrices | Matrices, PS 4.1 due | Matrices | Matrices, PS 4.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 5/4 | Vector Space | Vector Space, PS 5.1 due | Eigensystems | Normal modes, PS 5.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 5/11 | Normal modes | Intro to group theory | Total differentials | Midterm Due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 5/18 | Lagrange Multipliers | Fourier Analysis, PS 6.1 due | Fourier Analysis | Fourier Analysis, PS 6.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 5/25 | Holiday | Vector Analysis, PS 7.1 due | Vector Analysis | Vector Analysis, PS 7.2 due | Mathematica & office hours |
| 6/1 | Vector Analysis | Vector Analysis, PS 8.1 due | Final project office hours | Final project office hours | Final project office hours |
| 6/8 | Final Due |
Contact Information
Prof. Barnard: awb1@uw.edu
Teaching Assistants:
- Ramya Bhaskar: rbhaskar@uw.edu
- Heather Harrington: heathh6@uw.edu
- Daniela Koch: danikoch@uw.edu
- Mia Kumamoto: mialk@uw.edu
Please contact Ramya and Daniela regarding the long problem sets/office hours, Heather regarding Mathematica tutorials and Mia regarding the short problem sets.
Office Hours
Prof. Barnard's Office Hours, Tuesday & Thursday 3 PM - 4 PM
please use the lecture zoom link from canvas (recordings will be disabled for office hours)
Ramya's Office Hours, Fridays 12:30 PM-1:30 PM
Note: new link and meeting ID! >
recurring meeting link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/426353556
Daneila's Office Hours, Mondays 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
recurring meeting link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/363663068
meeting ID: 363663068
password: see canvas announcement
Policies
- We will adhere to the university rules governing academic misconduct
- With problem sets and the midterm, you must submit your own work. Excessive similarity between students' work will be reported to the Student Conduct Office.
- With the final project, you must perform your own analysis and write your own report. Any signs of plagiarism will be reported to the Student Conduct Office.
- Screenshots or recordings of other students during active video (Zoom) participation sessions are strictly forbidden. Any student caught engaging in this behavior will be reported to the Student Conduct Office.