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Kies de Nederlandse taal
Course module: UCSCIMATL2
UCSCIMATL2
Computational Physics
Course info
Course codeUCSCIMATL2
EC2.5
Course goals
 
Content
The increase in speed and computational power in computers allows us to perform large scale numerical simulations that aim at reproducing in a computer the evolution of complex real systems. Several branches of physics (meteorology, geophysics and chaos) rely heavily on computer simulations, and so do also interdisciplinary areas like astrophysics, biophysics and biochemistry.
The use of computational methods outside exact sciences ranges from economics to sociology. In the last decades there has been a revival of the old idea of "Physics of Society "which received great attention during the 19th century. This is a branch of sociology that studies the collective behaviour of people and/or animals based in "physics inspired" models that can be simulated numerically. The range of the methods used in this module are therefore very broad.
In this module the student will receive an introduction to C-programming (the language, editing numerical codes and graphical representation), and will get familiar to the use of some standard numerical algorithms that are building blocks in large scale simulations. At the end of the module the student is expected to put together a small project and present graphically the main results of his/her work.  The student will also be working in a UNIX-type environment (Cygwin which emulates UNIX in a Windows platform) which is widely used in scientific computations.
The student is expected to have taken mathematics high level in secondary school. During the first week the students will have several tasks designed to familiarize them with the C-programming language, include the use of pointers and structures, and to perform routine operations like reading and writing data from and into a file, and represent data graphically.  There will be tasks involving numerical integration, finding the roots of a functions and using random number generators. For those interested in more advanced tasks an introduction to the integration of differential equations will also be available.
In the second week the students are asked to carry out a small project.  A report of this project has to be written at the end of the module.  The subject of the project can range from mathematics, chaos and fractals, physics, biological systems, chemistry, pharmacology, economics, music, ...  Students are encouraged to put forward their own suggestions for projects.

Attendance
Due to the short duration and intensive nature of the lab course, 100% attendance is required.
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Kies de Nederlandse taal