Instructor: Doug Pickrell

Office: Mathematics 703

Office Phone: 621-4767

Email: pickrell@math.arizona.edu

Office Hours: TBA

Recommended Text: Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics by V.I. Arnold. Possible Books for Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Mechanics for Mathematicians, Brian Hall (to appear June 2013), Quantum Mechanics for Mathematicians, Leon Takhtajan, Lectures on Quantum Mechanics for Mathematics Students, L.D. Faddeev and O.A. Yakubovskii

About the course: I will assume minimal knowledge of physics. We will spend at least the first half of the course exploring classical mechanics (following Arnold's book), and classical field theory from a geometric point of view. In the second half of the course we will introduce quantum mechanics. There does not seem to be a completely satisfactory text. I listed some possibilities above.

Expectations: I will assign homework on a regular basis, and send out some solutions. I hope to recruit participants in the class to present some of the applications of the material in the context of the course. There will not be any exams.