phy501 - Numerical Methods (Complete module description)

phy501 - Numerical Methods (Complete module description)

Original version English PDF download
Module label Numerical Methods
Module code phy501
Credit points 6.0 KP
Workload 180 h
(
180h (attendance: 56h; self-study: 124h)
)
Institute directory Institute of Physics
Applicability of the module
  • Bachelor's Programme Engineering Physics (Bachelor) > Aufbaumodule
Responsible persons
  • Anemüller, Jörn (authorised to take exams)
  • Brand, Thomas (authorised to take exams)
  • Dietz, Mathias (authorised to take exams)
  • Hartmann, Alexander (authorised to take exams)
  • Hohmann, Volker (authorised to take exams)
  • Lücke, Jörg (authorised to take exams)
  • Meyer, Bernd (authorised to take exams)
  • Petrovic, Cornelia (authorised to take exams)
  • Hohmann, Volker (module responsibility)
Prerequisites
Course Mathematical Methods II passed with a grade of at least 4.0.
Skills to be acquired in this module
Students acquire theoretical knowledge of basic numerical methods and practical skills to apply these methods to physical problems within all areas of experimental, theoretical and applied physics.
Module contents
Basic concepts of numerical Mathematics are introduced and applied to Physics problems. Topics include: Finite number representation and numerical errors, linear and nonlinear systems of equations, numerical differentiation and integration, function minimization and model fitting, discrete Fourier analysis, ordinary and partial differential equations. The learned numerical methods will be partly implemented (programmed) and applied to basic problems from mechanics, electrodynamics, etc. in the exercises. The problems are chosen so that analytical solutions are available in most cases. In this way, the quality of the numerical methods can be assessed by comparing numerical and analytical solutions. Programming will be done in C or, preferably, in Matlab, which is a powerful package for numerical computing. Matlab offers easy, portable programming, comfortable visualization tools and already implements most of the numerical methods introduced in this course. These built-in functions can be compared to own implementations or used in the exercises in some cases when own implementations are too costly. The tutorials provide basic programming support.
Recommended reading

1. V. Hohmann: Numerical Methods for Physicists, Universität Oldenburg (lecture script; will be provided with the course material)

2. W. H. Press et al.: Numerical Recipes in C - The Art of Scientific Computing. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, [BIS]http://www.bis.uni-oldenburg.de/katalogsuche/freitext=press+numerical+recipes+art

3. A. L. Garcia: Numerical Methods for Physics. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (NJ), [BIS]http://www.bis.uni-oldenburg.de/katalogsuche/freitext=garcia+numerical+methods

4. J. H. Mathews: Numerical Methods for Mathematics, Science and Engineering. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (NJ), [BIS]http://www.bis.uni-oldenburg.de/katalogsuche/freitext=mathews+numerical+methods+science

5. B.W. Kernighan und D. Ritchie: The C Programming Language. Prentice Hall International, Englewood Cliffs (NJ) (in case Matlab is not used for the course)
Links
Language of instruction English
Duration (semesters) 1 Semester
Module frequency Annual, summer semester
Module capacity unlimited
Type of course Comment SWS Frequency Workload of compulsory attendance
Lecture 2 SuSe and WiSe 28
Exercises 2 SuSe and WiSe 28
Total module attendance time 56 h
Examination Prüfungszeiten Type of examination
Final exam of module
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