Introduction to Computational Physics

Catalog description

This course will cover basic techniques for writing computational simulations of systems of interest to physicists. The course will aim to provide tools and techniques necessary for simulating initial value problems, chaotic systems, particle distributions on a grid or in the continuum, random processes (Monte Carlo), phase transitions, and numerical solution of equations. Numerical techniques which will also be covered include numerical differentiation (ordinary and partial differential equations), numerical integration, Fourier transforms, linear and nonlinear fitting, root finding, plotting and data presentation. Physical systems to study can include chaotic pendulum motion, diffusion driven motion, the Ising spin model, and dilute gas molecular dynamics. Students will learn to simulate multiple physical systems, and analyze their simulated data using multiple numerical techniques in order to compare their results to expected theoretical behavior. Students' competency in simulation, analysis and presentation of simulated results will be assessed through independently designed programming projects using learned techniques.