PHYS 220, Spring 2008 — 4 cr.
Prof. Szuberla

The course syllabus for PHYS 220 is posted here. There you will find pertinent course information and policies. On this web page you will find useful links to further information and assignments (homework, laboratory and project).

My schedule (office hours, research, etc.) for Spring 2008 is posted here.

The course outline, homework assignments and general class notes can be found at this link. Please check it often, as it is a living document – things will change as the semester progresses.

There are numerous computational physics books out there and a few of them are highly recommended. None of these texts are required; however, you may wish to consider reviewing them in addition to the assigned texts (Giordano & Nakanishi; Gilat).

• Numerical Recipes, 2nd ed. by Press et al, Cambridge, 1992. This text, in whatever language (C, C++, or Fortran) is a must-have reference. I have used this one consistently since my graduate school days. Some of these texts are available on-line and a 3rd edition (C++ only) is scheduled for release in early 2008.
• Scientific Computing, 2nd ed. by Heath, McGraw-Hill, 2002. This text provides a valuable look at scientific computing from both a modern and mathematically rigorous standpoint. Much like Numerical Recipes, it covers a wide range of topics that will be useful to you throughout your career.
• Numerical Methods for Physics, 2nd ed. by Garcia, Prentice-Hall, 2000. Unlike our text, this approach parallels that of a mathematical methods course, substituting numerical computation for analytic work. Good sample problems and source code in C++ and MATLAB.
• MATLAB Programming for Engineers, 3rd ed. by Chapman, Thomson, 2004. Now in its 4th ed., this book is a bit more comprehensive than Gilat, but more complete. If you already have Gilat, you probably won't need this. In fact, if your internet skills and ability to read the internal MATLAB documentation are up to snuff, you really don't need any text like Gilat at all.
• Computer Methods for Mathematical Computations by Forsythe, et al., Prentice-Hall, 1977. A good read for historical perspective (Cleve Moler, a co-author is the architect of MATLAB), especially to see just how little has actually changed in 31 years.

Please get your "LAB" domain login prior to the first class meeting, Thursday 24 Jan 2008 in REIC 101 (the Noyes Lab). You can get registered on the domain with OIT, which will allow you to log in to various computer labs on campus. Be prepared to do some work on the computers!