Physics 410: Computational Physics (Fall 2020) |
| COURSE HOME PAGE (this page): http://laplace.physics.ubc.ca/410/ |
| Instructor: Matthew (Matt) W. Choptuik | |
| Web page: http://laplace.physics.ubc.ca/People/matt/ | |
| Home Phone: 604-569-3374 Cell: 778-323-4887 |
Virtual office hours: By appointment via
e-mail |
| E-mail: choptuik@phas.ubc.ca
|
TAs: Michael Kinach (mikin@phas.ubc.ca) Daniel Wong (danielk@phas.ubc.ca) |
SCHEDULE:
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| COURSE LINKS |
| This
course will provide a survey of techniques from numerical
analysis and other areas of computational science with
applications to problems in physics. A list of topics is as follows (in roughly the order we will be covering them):
Application areas will include: classical dynamics,
quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. |
| There is no required or optional text book for
the course, but see HERE for
a list of references, many of which provide coverage for
much of what we will be discussing. Note that
full-text PDF versions of most of these references are
available from the UBC library. The PDFs for Powerpoint or equivalent notes will be posted HERE. However, it is up to you to take notes when I present them on my tablet via Zoom. I intend to record all lectures (but, again, not tutorials) and post them to Canvas. Getting help You can use the course Piazza to post questions, particularly those that are likely to also be of interest to one or more of your classmates. Although I will endeavour to answer posts promptly, I encourage all students to post replies as they feel they are able. However, please do not ask, or supply answers to, questions of the form "How do I do X in homework/project Y?". That type of query should be minimized as much as possible, and directed to me via e-mail. Note that this does not mean that general discussions about the homework/projects are precluded from Piazza. You should feel free to e-mail me with questions that you feel should be kept private or, in general, that you are not comfortable in posting on Piazza. |
| The "official" computer language for this course
is MATLAB. MATLAB provides a powerful and convenient programming environment that is tailor-made for numerical calculations of the sort we will be considering. It is an interpreted language, which makes it well suited for the type of rapid prototyping and interactive experimentation that you will be encouraged to do in the tutorials and homework assignments. MATLAB is available for you to install on your own computers. See HERE for details. My previous experience with this course suggests that it is not a hardship to require that students use MATLAB for their coursework, so this is the official course policy. |
Your work in this course will consist of two
homework assignments, two projects (which can be viewed as
advanced homeworks) and a term paper. These will have the
following weighting
You will generally have one week to complete homework assignments and two weeks to finish projects. Late work will generally not be accepted unless there are extenuating circumstances. If you find yourself in the position of needing an extension you must request one from me via an e-mail message as soon as possible and definitely before the due date of the assignment/project. Each homework/project submission must contain, as a PDF file, a writeup detailing how you completed the assignment, and what the results and conclusions were. This PDF file must be accompanied by the source code files that were used to complete the work. When preparing and submitting a homework/project, you must:
Please use the following naming conventions for your zipped folders. homework-<n>.zip project-<n>.zip where <n> is the number of the homework or project. For example homework-2.zip project-1.zip Note that when creating the zip'ed folder you do not need to specify the .zip extension---that will be done automatically. Also, do not use the submission comment feature in Canvas. If you have information that you wish conveyed to the TAs, include it in your writeup. IMPORTANT!! You are welcome to discuss your homework assignments and projects with your fellow students. However, the work that you submit, including any and all source code, must be your own. TERM PAPER Your term paper is to be based on a topic in computational physics, or broadly related area, of your own choosing. For example, you might report on a sub-branch of computational physics, or on an algorithm that has had a major impact in some field of computational science. If you are unsure whether what you have in mind is appropriate, simply check with me. Your paper should be approximately 1500-2000 words in length (not including references), and may contain figures from other sources, provided that proper attribution of these is made. Note that your term paper is not to be viewed as another programming exercise analogous to the homework and project assignments. There is no need for any coding for your papers, and, indeed, coding is explicitly discouraged. Term papers are due Friday, December 11. |
| During this pandemic, the
shift to online learning has greatly altered teaching and
studying at UBC, including changes to health and safety
considerations. Keep in mind that some UBC courses might
cover topics that are censored or considered illegal by
non-Canadian governments. This may include, but is not
limited to, human rights, representative government,
defamation, obscenity, gender or sexuality, and historical
or current geopolitical controversies. If you are a student
living abroad, you will be subject to the laws of your local
jurisdiction, and your local authorities might limit your
access to course material or take punitive action against
you. UBC is strongly committed to academic freedom, but has
no control over foreign authorities (please visit http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,33,86,0
for an articulation of the values of the University
conveyed in the Senate Statement on Academic Freedom). Thus,
we recognize that students will have legitimate reason to
exercise caution in studying certain subjects. If you have
concerns regarding your personal situation, consider
postponing taking a course with manifest risks, until you
are back on campus or reach out to your academic advisor to
find substitutecourses. For further information and support,
please visit: http://academic.ubc.ca/support-resources/freedom-expression |
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| See the UBC 2020/2021 Calendar and Academic Year [all year] pages for more information |