Overview of this Course:
Textbooks
Recommended:
A Primer on Scientific Programming with Python, 2nd Edition, Hans Petter Langtangen
Not Required, but recommended:
An Introduction to Python (Paperback) Guido van Rossum, publisher: Network Theory LTD.
(Both books may be purchased from Amazon.com used or new; click on above links to go to Amazon.com)
The required text will be available at the USM Portland Bookstore.)
This course uses computers as tools to manipulate and visualize data, and to simulate physical systems using the computing language Python (named after the British Comedy Troupe), along with many associated libraries that make scientific computing and visualization in Python much easier to implement than in languages such as C/C++, Fortran, and Java. The course will begin with an introduction to the core foundation of Python, move onto using it as a tool to read, massage, and plot data, and then we will quickly progress to use Python to simulate physical systems that are not solvable by analytic means. The course emphasizes computation for the sake of increased understanding and insight into physical systems, and teaches programming/scripting as a means to this end.
Prerequisites: A passing grade in Physics 121, and at least one semester of Calculus; no prior programming experience assumed. Cr 3
Computing Platform Recommendation and bias.
If you’re in the nice position of being about to purchase a new computer, I strongly recommend using either the Mac OS or Linux.
But I urge you to avoid windows (only because historically, people in this course have had annoying difficulties) If you are an expert with Windows, feel free to use it, just realize I won’t be able to help with installation and usage issues if they arise. If you already have a windows machine, don't worry, I'll show you how to install an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution on your machine.
What do I use?
I use Macs. Since 1993, I have had 6 different computers, and only one of them has ever had a hardware issue (it was covered under warranty), and have had zero drive failures. Plus, they’re the most elegantly designed machines around (imho), and they are fast. I also run Ubuntu Linux in VirtualBox on my Mac, and this is something you can do on your PC too.
Bottom line: I recommend either a Mac or a PC running Linux Mint , or Ubuntu Linux.
Current version of handouts
Computational Physics Handouts
