A First Guide to Computational Modelling in Physics

Early-stage physics and engineering students will take an innovative, project-based approach, teaching them to apply numerical methods.

Pawel Scharoch (Author), Maciej P. Polak (Author), Radosław Szymon (Author), Katarzyna Holodnik-Malecka (Software written by)

9781009413107, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 February 2024

130 pages
24.4 x 16.9 x 0.7 cm, 0.24 kg

'Recommended.' J. F. Burkhart, CHOICE

This innovative text helps demystify numerical modelling for early-stage physics and engineering students. It takes a hands-on, project-based approach, with each chapter focusing on an intriguing physics problem taken from classical mechanics, electrodynamics, thermodynamics, astrophysics, and quantum mechanics. To solve these problems, students must apply different numerical methods for themselves, building up their knowledge and practical skills organically. Each project includes a discussion of the fundamentals, the mathematical formulation of the problem, an introduction to the numerical methods and algorithms, and exercises, with solutions available to instructors. The methods presented focus primarily on differential equations, both ordinary and partial, as well as basic mathematical operations. Developed over many years of teaching a computational modelling course, this stand-alone book equips students with an essential numerical modelling toolkit for today's data-driven landscape, and gives them new ways to explore science and engineering.

Preface
How to use this book
First steps
1. Rectangular finite quantum well – Stationary Schrödinger Equation in 1D
2. Diffraction of light on a slit
3. Pendulum as a standard unit of time
4. Planetary system
5. Gravitation inside a star
6. Normal modes in a cylindrical waveguide
7. Thermal insulation properties of a wall
8. Cylindrical capacitor
9. Coupled harmonic oscillators
10. The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam problem
11. Cold hydrogen star
12. Rectangular quantum well filled with electrons – The idea of self-consistent calculations
13. Time dependent Schrödinger Equation Dawid Dworzański
14. Poisson equation in 2D
Appendices
Further Reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Applied physics [PHV]