Introductory Computational Physics

by Andi Klein, Alexander Godunov

Overview

Computers are one of the most important tools available to physicists, whether for calculating and displaying results, simulating experiments, or solving complex systems of equations. Introducing students to computational physics, this textbook reveals how to use computers to solve mathematical problems in physics and teaches students about choosing different numerical approaches. It also introduces students to many of the programs and packages available. The book relies solely on free software: the operating system chosen is Linux, which comes with an excellent C++ compiler, and the graphical interface is the ROOT package available for free from CERN.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521828628
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/09/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.39(d)

About the Author

Andi Klein is a technical staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.

Alexander Godunov is Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics, Old Dominion University, Virginia.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Basics; 3. Short introduction to Linux; 4. Interpolation I; 5. Interpolation II; 6. Taking derivatives; 7. Numerical integration; 8. Solution of nonlinear equations; 9. Differential equations; 10. Matrices; 11. Random processes and Monte Carlo simulation; A. The ROOT system; B. Free scientific libraries; C. FORTRAN and C++; D. Program listings.