Welcome to Physics 307!
5 November agenda:
- Talk about how to go about attacking this string project
- Talk about programming with arrays in both C and Python
- Get started hacking! :)
10 October agenda:
- Do a retrospective on Project 4
- Talk about systems that move in more than one dimension
- Introduce Project 5
1 October agenda:
- Talk about “perfect” data vs. the kind of data we usually get
- Introduce second-order differential equations
- Introduce animations and get anim set up on your computers
- Introduce Project 4
New notes:
- Symplectic solvers for Newton’s laws
- Making animations
- A few C++ tricks that are useful
(Optional, may make life easier for C programmers)
19 September agenda:
- recap your results from Project 2
- introduce numerical solution of differential equations
- introduce Project 3
- watch (a bit of) a movie!
10 September agenda:
- talk about written reports and our expectations
- See a report from a student last year as an example of what we’re after
- Please don’t emulate this format exactly – this is an example of how to discuss data in general, not a model to copy
- talk about Taylor series and what they are good for
- talk about analysis of algorithms
- talk about how to use Taylor series to analyze the error in numerical integration methods
New assignment: Project 2
New notes: Analysis of numerical integration methods, programming with functions
3 September agenda:
- talk about what we’re going to do about the registrar’s mistake with the classroom
- ensure everyone has finished Project 0
- talk about a few programming concepts you’ll need for Project 1
- get started working on Project 1, the first “real” assignment for our class
29 August agenda:
- introduce you to the C programming language
- introduce you to a few other programming ideas in both Python and C
- demonstrate the ideas behind computational physics and the power of the discipline
- turn you loose on Project 0
27 August agenda:
- talk briefly about what this class will be, and what you can expect
- I gave a talk on SU’s Physics 307 class at the American Association of Physics Teachers conference last summer; here are the slides if anyone’d like to read them to get an idea of what this class will be like.
- introduce you to the folks teaching this class
- ensure everyone can log into the course computer
- introduce some basic Linux commands and the C and/or Python programming languages
- guide everyone through writing their first program!
In more detail, here are the instructions for the first day:
- First decide if you want to use your own laptop or our computers for the course:
- If you have a Linux or Mac laptop, then you should probably use it right away for everything
- Join the Slack channel at suphysics.slack.com and send memes/say hi
- Get started writing code in C, Python, or both:
- You can find notes about both C and Python on the notes page, along with a comparison of the two. I’ll also demonstrate both.
- If you have time, experiment with plotting things. I’ll demonstrate this if we have time.