.Introductory Mathematics for Physicists 1 Syllabus
Instructor
Rennan Barkana
Email :barkana@tau.ac.il
Academic Year, Semesters
Fall semester
Number of Hours/ Credits
4 lecture + 2 rec.
Mandatory/Elective
Mandatory
Year in program & how often given, if relevant
Year 1, given every year
Course overview – short abstract
This course gives beginning physics students a broad range of mathematical technical skills that are necessary for the physics courses being taken during their first and second years. Emphasis is on problem solving and techniques. Material includes differential and integral calculus of single-variable and multi-variable functions; complex numbers; and ordinary differential equations.
Assessment: coursework and grade structure
Assignments – 10%
Final exam – 90%
Week-by-week content (approximate)
Week 1: Derivatives: 1-D
Week 2: Taylor series
Week 3: Integrals: 1-D
Week 4: Applications of integrals
Week 5: Multi-dimensional derivatives
Week 6: Linear algebra, Jacobians
Week 7: First-order ordinary differential equations: Intro
Week 8: Techniques for solving 1'st order ODE's
Week 9: Multi-dimensional integrals
Week 10: Applications of 2-D and 3-D integrals
Week 11: Complex numbers: Intro
Week 12: Euler's formula, polynomials
Week 13: Second-order ordinary differential equations
Required text: None
