Undergraduate Course: Computational Methods (PHYS09016)
Course Outline
| School | School of Physics and Astronomy |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
WebCT |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course is a practical introduction to computational simulation techniques in physics, using the Java programming language. The rationale behind computer simulation will be introduced and the relationship between simulation, theory and experiment discussed. The course will also cover the implementation of some common computational time-integration algorithms. Assessment is by a series of checkpoints covering Fourier series, vectors, and particle dynamics. The material is available through WebCT. Checkpoints must be marked by a demonstrator during a timetabled CP Lab session. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
|
WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| King's Buildings | Laboratory | | 2-11 | | 14:00 - 17:00 | | | or 14:00 - 17:00 |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| No Exam Information |
|
| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
WebCT enabled: No |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| King's Buildings | Laboratory | | 2-11 | | 14:00 - 17:00 | | | or 14:00 - 17:00 |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion it is intended that the student will be able to:
1. Explain why it is appropriate to solve certain physical problems, such as integration and modelling interacting particles by computation;
2. Appreciate the relationship between simulation, theroy and experiment as scientific techniques;
3. Understand and apply the techniques of formulating algorithms and converting them into real programs to simulate physical phenomena;
4. Explain the use of Java classes as building blocks in object-oriented programming, and differentiate the purpose of private, public and static fields and methods;
5. Use system library routines to read in data from external sources, process those data, and export results to visualisation software;
6. Explain the origin of numerical errors in computational techniques, and demonstrate understanding of their impact;
7. Use graphing and visualisation packages (XMGRACE, VMD). |
Assessment Information
Coursework, 100%
5 checkpoints marked out of 20. Final mark is the weighted sum of the checkpoint marks. Weighting:
Checkpoint 1: 5%
Checkpoint 2: 10%
Checkpoint 3: 25%
Checkpoint 4: 30%
Checkpoint 5: 30%
Visiting Student Variant Assessment
Coursework, 100%
Checkpoint 1: 5%
Checkpoint 2: 10%
Checkpoint 3: 25%
Checkpoint 4: 30%
Checkpoint 5: 30% |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
&· Explain why it is appropriate to solve certain physical problems, such as integration and modelling interacting particles by computation;
&· Appreciate the relationship between simulation, theroy and experiment as scientific techniques;
&· Understand and apply the techniques of formulating algorithms and converting them into real programs to simulate physical phenomena;
&· Explain the use of Java classes as building blocks in object-oriented programming, and differentiate the purpose of private, public and static fields and methods;
&· Use system library routines to read in data from external sources, process those data, and export results to visualisation software;
&· Explain the origin of numerical errors in computational techniques, and demonstrate understanding of their impact;
&· Use graphing and visualisation packages (XMGRACE, VMD). |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | CMeth |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Turner
Tel: (0131 6)51 3578
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Gonzalez-Rienda
Tel: (0131 6)51 7067
Email: |
|
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