PHYS 490: Computer Applications in Physics

Instructor: Dr. Yang Peng

Class Information: Fully Online and Asynchronous with online regular meetings

Email: yang.peng@csun.edu

Office Hours: By appointment over Zoom

Objectives and topics covered:

This course will bring together idiomatic Python programming, foundational numerical methods, and physics applications. All the frequently used numerical methods in physics are explained, including foundational techniques and hidden gems on topics such as linear algebra, differential equations, root-finding, interpolation, and integration. We emphasize developing and strengthening students' ability to computationally solve a wide range of problems. The topics that will be covered in this course are summarized in the following:

• Review of Python: visualization with matplotlib
• Basic numerical analysis: dealing with errors
• Derivatives: finite difference, automatic differentiation
• Dealing with matrices: system of linear equations, eigenvalue problems
• Roots: solving nonlinear equations, minimization
• Approximation: interpolation and least-square fitting
• Integration: numerical integration and Monte Carlo method
• Solving differential equations: Initial-value, boundary-value, eigenvalue problems

Lecture Notes:

1. Summary of Python features
2. Numbers and Errors
3. Derivatives I
4. Derivatives II
5. Matrices I
6. Matrices II
7. Matrices III
8. Matrices IV
9. Roots I
10. Roots II
11. Numerical Integration I
12. Numerical Integration II
13. Numerical Integration III
14. Differential Equations I