Note: this page is in the process of being updated from last year's PHY 201 page, so some material may not be precisely true for this year's class. This notice will be removed when the updating is complete.

PHY201 - Physics Computations II

All course materials and worksheets will appear here.

Instructor

  • Prof. Jon Pumplin - Office 3240 BPS Bldg., (517) 884-5563, pumplin@pa.msu.edu

    Course Outline

    This one-credit course is the second of three lab-style courses (PHY102, PHY201, PHY301) designed to teach undergraduate physics students how to use computers to solve physics problems. PHY102 emphasizes the use of Mathematica. PHY201 develops your knowledge of programming in Fortran 90, with occasional use of Mathematica. PHY301 covers C++ , also with some use of Mathematica.

    Course Assessment

  • Your grade will be based on your solutions to the weekly worksheets.

    PHY102 and PHY201 will meet simultaneously in Room 1240 BPS (Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building).

    There are no lectures: the class is entirely hands-on-keyboard. The lab will be open according to the following schedule: You can expect to spend approximately 2--3 hours per week, during those times, to complete the assignments. If additional time is needed, it will be possible to arrange to have the room open by request at some additional hours.

        Mon 3:00 - 4:00PM
        Tue 12:40 - 1:30PM
        Wed 3:00 - 4:00PM
        Thu 10:20 - 11:30AM (room shared with another class)
        Thu 12:40 - 1:30PM
        Thu 3:00 - 4:00PM
        Fri 9:10 - 11:30AM
        Fri 3:00 - 4:00PM

    The worksheets

    Worksheet 1 - due Feb 3, 2012 at 5pm.
    Worksheet 2 - due Feb 10, 2012 at 5pm.
    Worksheet 3 - due Feb 17 , 2012 at 5pm.
    Worksheet 4 - due Feb 24, 2012 at 5pm.
    Worksheet 5 - due Mar 2 , 2012 at 5pm.
    Worksheet 6 - due Mar 23, 2012 at 5pm(two weeks for this worksheet).
    Worksheet 7 - due Mar 30, 2012 at 5pm.
    Worksheet 8 - due Apr 6, 2012 at 5pm(two weeks for this worksheet).
    Worksheet 9 - due Apr 20, 2012 at 5pm(two weeks for this worksheet).

    Reference materials

  • Introduction to Linux Computing in 1240BPS.
  • Introduction to Mathematica (Written by Ellen Lau)

  • Text that will be followed quite closely: "An introduction to Fortran 90 for scientific computing", by James M. Ortega.
  • There are many online introductions to fortran. Introduction to Fortran Reference Manual introduces Fortran 77 and gives links to online fortran tutorials and other resources, written by Aleks Donev.
  • Key www site: Numerical recipes online . You will need to read some sections of this book.
  • A www site with lots of free fortran stuff.
  • "Fortran 90/95 explained" second edition. by Michael Metcalf and John Reid. Oxford University Press, 1999. More advanced than Ortega and more recent. Buy it if you are serious about scientific computing.
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