Mathematics of Chemistry

Catalog description

This course is designed to provide students with a foundation in the mathematical concepts commonly used in chemistry and which are needed for more advanced work including upper-division courses and/or research. Course topics include vectors and matrices, calculus of several variables, basis expansions, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, and an introduction to group theory. Rather than presenting these topics in a highly theoretical manner, however, they are conveyed through the vehicle of and in the context of actual applications to real chemical problems. Concepts are enforced through in-class problem solving as well as weekly problem sets. Students will be encouraged to apply both analytical techniques as well as tools such as Matlab, Mathematica, or high-level programming languages such as Python.