Physics 350:
Computational Methods
for the Physical Sciences

Spring Semester 2009

Class News (Last Updated: Wednesday, July 22):

  • The Final Course Gradebook, which includes your final course grades, is online Monday, October 19.

  • Final Exam Sample Solutions have been posted at the bottom of the electronic handouts page.

(Last Updated: Wednesday, July 22)


From the Course Description: This course introduces students in the physical sciences to basic mathematical and computational techniques useful for data analysis and numerical modeling. All topics are covered by first introducing the mathematical underpinnings of the technique, then introducing computational tools to aid in doing the mathematics.

Paul A.M. Dirac (1902-1984) was an English Nobel laureate mathematician and physicist. He eventually held the Lucasian Professorshipof Mathematics at Cambridge, the same chair originally held by Issac Newton and currently held by Stephen Hawking. Dirac's work was concerned with the mathematical and theoretical aspects of quantum mechanics. The importance of Dirac's work lies essentially in his famous wave equation, which introduced special relativity into Schrödinger's equation. However, he also introduced the concept of the delta function, critical to several areas of physics today. A more detailed biography is available on the Nobel Prize website.