Syllabus

SPRING 2023 SYLLABUS

PHYSICS 573-001 NUMERICAL METHODS IN PHYSICS

PHYSICS 643-001 COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS

Topics

  • Selected topics using practical physics examples:

    • Using C++ and LINUX

    • Root finding

    • Numerical differentiation

    • Numerical integration

    • Integration of ODEs

    • Selected partial differential equations

    • The 3-body problem

    • Chaos

    • Monte Carlo method

    • High performance computing, parallel computing, and computing accelerators

    • Additional methods including CERN GRID

Access to a computer with a web browser and certain mathematical packages is required in order to receive assignments, solve homework problems, and have access to class material. Details concerning computer access are available on our class home page at http://sites.google.com/site/utkp643.

Homework

Homework is assigned weekly and due during lecture on the assigned date. Homework problems will require use of the UTK ISAAC High Performance & Scientific Computing cluster. Do not copy solutions from others (including source input code) or refer to past solutions from others. Each student must make one short in-class presentation of a solution to the present week's homework by April 4. Slots are limited. Early volunteering is appreciated and recommended.

Final Project

An independent semester-long final project is a major part of the course. The topic must be related to current physics research appearing in some recently published journal article. The project must develop a sufficiently advanced C/C++ computer program to solve the problem and use multiple numerical methods related to the course. An in-class oral presentation and a written report plus C/C++ source code that functions on the ACF, program output, and citation of the related journal article are required. (Use of Python for Machine Learning projects can be considered for possible approval on a case-by-case basis.) The project should be considerably more advanced than homework problems, independently developed by the student during this semester, and not developed directly as part of a student's research group work. The project topic and approach must be approved by February 23. Project in-class oral presentations will be made throughout the last few weeks of the course with only a limited number of slots per day. Presentations are scheduled on a first-come basis and must be scheduled by March 30. Reserving early can avoid being scheduled sooner than desired. More details and a rubric are available on the Final Project tab of the class web site.

Grades

The average of the individual homework scores will collectively be worth 40% of the final score. The final project is worth 40% of the final score. Active participation during in-class projects, homework presentations, classroom attendance, and advance reading and preparation are essential due to the nature of this course. In-class participation plus the in-class homework presentation represent 10% of the final score. Classroom attendance represents 10% of the final score. A "curve" will be used to transform your final score into the final grade.

Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please, contact the Office of Disability Services in 100 Dunford Hall at 865-974-6087 to coordinate reasonable accommodations for documented disabilities.

Last updated 12/23/22