Course Description
Instructor: |
Dr. Juan Cabanela | Dr. Matthew Craig |
Office: |
Hagen Hall 307B (218-447-2453) | Hagen Hall 307F (218-477-2439) |
Research Lab: |
Hagen Hall 302 (218-477-2458) | Hagen Hall 302 (218-477-2458) |
Email: |
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IM: |
AstroJuanCab (AIM) (MSN) Cabanela (Yahoo! IM) |
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Office Hours: |
Dr. Cabanela's schedule is online here. | Dr. Craig's schedule is online here. |
Homepage: |
http://phys350.cabanela.com/ | |
Lecture Period: |
MW 9:30 AM to10:20 AM in Hagen 325 | |
Lab Period: |
W 3:00 PM to 4:50 PM in Hagen 317 | |
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. The mathematical techniques we will be discussing include:
- Series including Taylor’s Series
- Complex numbers and Special functions
- Ordinary Differential Equations
- Matrix representation of Linear Systems of Equations
- Fourier Analysis and Convolutions
This course is not a computer-programming course, so no specific programming language will be taught. We will instead be focusing on
- Maple as a system for symbolic mathematics, including computation of Taylor’s series, numerical and symbolic integration and differentiation, and matrix manipulation (inverse, eigenvalue and eigenvector problems).
- The Linux operating system as a computing environment.
- IDL as a computer language for manipulating arrays, images, and performing some more advanced image analysis.
- We will also discuss the place of other programming languages including C, Fortran77, and perl, in problem solving, but we will not provide explicit instruction in those programming languages.
Materials Required or Suggested:
- [Required] Access to the Internet, since all course materials that would traditionally be “handouts” will be posted online (see us if this is an issue).
- [Required] Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, 3rd Edition, by Mary L. Boas (Wiley) [actually, 2nd edition is OK as well.]
- Access to Numerical Recipes Online at http://www.nr.com/
Course Objectives
By the end of this course you should be able to:
- Use a computer to solve physics problem numerically.
- Recognize the limitations of numerical solutions.
- Choose an appropriate computational technique for a particular problem.
- Make use of IDL, Maple, and understand how an algorithmic approach to physics problems allows you to program in any programming language.