PHYSIC 362 Computational Science

4 Credit(s)

This course provides an introduction to some of the computational techniques employed, as well as illustrative applications in the natural sciences, and is intended to be accessible to majors from all science disciplines. The topics covered will begin with the numerical computation of derivatives and integrals. After discussing methods for finding roots of equations, solutions to systems of linear equations will be studies using matrix methods. These techniques are then extended to the solution of systems of ordinary differential equations with boundary or initial conditions. Scientific applications will include discrete and continuous time population and ecological models; reaction kinetics; radioactive decay; and solutions to one-dimensional Poisson and Schroedinger equations. Students will use MATLAB software as a platform to explore these computational techniques.

Enrollment Requirements:
Prerequisite: PHYSIC 113 and MATH 140 or permission of instructor