PHYS 234 - Introductory Computational Physics

3 units (fi 6)(EITHER, 3-0-3)

An introductory course on using computer based methods to solve physics problems, especially those that do not have analytical solutions or require great effort to find it. Examples of problems are drawn from mechanics, electricity and magnetism, modern physics, experimental physics, and data analysis. The course begins with an introduction to scientific programming. The topics that are covered include numerical differentiation and integration; vector geometry and linear algebra; solutions to ordinary differential equations including nonlinear equations and coupled systems of equations. Other topics will be selected from numerical methods and algorithms for analysis of physics data including root finding methods, interpolation, uncertainty estimates, an introduction to regression, Monte Carlo methods, common statistical distributions encountered in physics, Fourier analysis, signal processing and eigenvalue methods. Prerequisite: PHYS 146 or PHYS 181; MATH 118 or 146. Note: MA PH 251 or MATH 334 is a suggested corequisite.