Fall 2026

Theoretical Physics-dynamics

PHYSICS 711 covers advanced theoretical dynamics, including Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, chaos, and an introduction to general relativity.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Jeffrey Schmidt3.1/5

Summary

1 / 3

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.21 GPA, 32.6% A/AB (n=46 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.54 GPA, 85.4% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.57 GPA, 68.6% A/AB (n=35 letter grades).

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Graduate/professional standing

  • Graduate/professional standing
PHYSICS 711

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Graduate/professional standing

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.91/5 from 75 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2019: 3.40 GPA, 56.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2020: 3.21 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=21 letter grades); Fall 2021: 3.12 GPA, 23.3% A/AB (n=30 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JEFFREY SCHMIDT is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction23 / 460

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.21 GPA, 32.6% A/AB (n=46 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.54 GPA, 85.4% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.57 GPA, 68.6% A/AB (n=35 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Lagrangian mechanics and variational principles
  • Orbital mechanics and scattering theory
  • Rigid body dynamics and small oscillations
  • Special relativistic dynamics
  • Hamiltonian mechanics and Hamilton-Jacobi theory
  • Perturbation theory and chaos
  • Continuum mechanics
  • General relativity

Skills

  • Applying Lagrangian mechanics and variational principles
  • Analyzing orbital mechanics and rigid body motion
  • Utilizing Hamiltonian formalism and canonical transformations
  • Applying perturbation theory and analyzing chaotic systems
  • Introducing continuum mechanics and general relativity

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 711 · Fall 2026

Theoretical Physics-Dynamics

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:754:015669",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 711",
    "course_uid": "course_1e6b3fbcdf1d21852e0b8f47",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "015669",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "Theoretical Physics-Dynamics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "ae11c9c5e0a578978a469db0608e7a7deb8e76d8b35397eb9a6b1300863277cd",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}