Spring 2015

Meeting times
Lec: MWF 1:00-1:50pm  in Reiss 502
Lab: Th 2:00-3:50pm  in Reiss 501B

Instructors

Amy Liu 546 Reiss 202-687-6583 liua@georgetown.edu Office hours: TBA

Emanuela Del Gado 426 Regents 202-687-1489 ed610@georgetown.edu Office hours: TBA

Textbook
Computational Physics, N. Giordano and H. Nakanishi (Prentice Hall, 2006).

Course outline
Computation has become an integral part of science and engineering. The working physicist must be able to take advantage of the power offered by computers to attack scientific problems that are otherwise intractable. In this course we will introduce some basic numerical methods commonly used in scientific computation.

This is not a course in computer programming. Rather, the focus is on developing models for physical systems, choosing appropriate algorithms to solve the model, validating the simulations, tracking sources of error, and analyzing the data. It is assumed that you have had some experience writing computer codes in a language like C, Fortran, Python, etc. If this is not the case, you should see an instructor for help in getting started.

A tentative schedule for the course can be found at http://site.physics.georgetown.edu/~liu/p508/syllabus.html

Homework
Weekly assignments will usually be due at 5pm on Fridays. If you anticipate a problem in getting an assignment in on time, please talk to an instructor ahead of time.

One of the main ways you will learn the material is by doing the homework. You are encouraged to discuss the assignments with your fellow students, but please try them on your own first. This will allow you to organize your thoughts and identify areas of difficulty. Please keep in mind that whatever you turn in, including all the programs, must be your own work. In particular, on computer assignments you may not copy portions of code from another student or from a book or off the web or from anywhere else. Simply copying someone else's work without understanding it is not only a form of academic misconduct, but also a great way to guarantee poor performance on the exams.

Exams
There will be two exams, one covering the first half of the semester and one covering the second half. The exams will likely be administered during lab periods.  

Grading
Homework (~10 assignments): 50%
Exam 1: 20%
Exam 2: 20%
Integrative Experience (508) or Final Project (442): 10%

Learning Goals

• Learn how to develop models for physical systems
• Learn a variety of techniques for simulating both continuous and discrete physical systems
• Learn how to write computer programs implementing those techniques and models
• Develop skills for verifying code and testing for correctness
• Understand how to test for dependence on computational parameters
• Understand how to analyze data to assess convergence, sources of error, error bars, etc.
• Learn how to design a set of simulations to answer a scientific question