Computational Physics
Spring 2009 PHYS 1600 S01
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Instructor:
Please check the Detailed Class Information for up to date information about this course.
Information on meeting times for this course can be found on Course Schedule at http://selfservice.brown.edu
Course Description
This course provides students with an introduction to scientific computation, primarily as applied to physical science problems. It will assume a basic knowledge of programming and will focus on how computational methods can be used to study physical systems complementing experimental and theoretical techniques. Prerequisites: PHYS 0070, 0160 (or 0050, 0060) and 0470 (or ENGN 0510); MATH 0180 or 0200 or 0350; the ability to write a simple computer program in Fortran, Matlab, C or C++.
Instructor's Description
We will use the powerful open-source Python programming language throughout the course, along with the NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib Python libraries. (Some computationally-intensive loops will be sped up using some C code.) Students are encouraged to bring their own laptop to each class, as each class meeting will be interactive.
A partial selection of topics: Planetary orbits and ice ages, chaos, fluid mechanics, molecular dynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics. The emphasis is on using computers to learn physics, though students will of course learn about programming (including object-oriented programming).
Assignments and Grading
No exams -- only homework assignments and a final project.
Readings and Required Texts
"Computational Physics" 2nd edition by Nicholas Giordano and Hisao Nakanishi.
