Fall Semester 2000
Schedule: 6:00 - 7:30pm, Mon, Wed.
Location: 102 JFB
Home page:
www.physics.utah.edu/~p5720
E-mail:
p5720@physics.utah.edu
Instructor: Ben
Bromley
E-mail:
bromley@physics.utah.edu
Office: INSCC 218, Hours:4-6pm Mon, Wed.
Phone: 581-8227
TA: Jun Hidaka
E-mail:
hidaka@physics.utah.edu
Office: INSCC 205 Hours: 4-6pm Mon, Wed.
PHYCS 3730/5720 is a brief introduction to computing tools for science and engineering work on modern workstations. Topics include unix (file structures, commands, scripts, etc.), editing (especially with emacs), spreadsheets, technical document preparation (LaTeX, Postscript), symbolic manipulation (Maple), use of library routines (Netlib, etc.), constructing numerical programs (makefiles, linking programs, etc.). These tools will be illustrated by applying them to scientific and engineering problems.
The course will meet twice per week, Monday and Wednesday, from 6:00pm to 7:30pm in Room 102 of the James Fletcher Building. Instructor and TA office hours are given above.
Weekly homework assignments will constitute 75% of the students' grades. The remaining 25% will come from a class project (10%), and a final exam (15%). The class project will consist of a research paper, in a format suitable for submission to a journal or the Los Alamos physics archive.
An additional component of the course will be in-class "lab" exercises, consisting of short on-line problems which highlight the material presented in lecture. These exercises are to be done immediately after the lecture in (the South Physics Computer Lab (Rm 205). No grade will be assigned for these exercises, nonetheless, they will be related to the homework assignments and students are strongly urged to try them.
There is no textbook for this course, however, students may find some references to be useful. Please note that extensive resources exist on-line and on the web, as will be discussed in lecture.
Note: The two courses, PHYCS 3730 and PHYCS 57820, meet together. The material to be covered in both courses, as described in the University of Utah Course Catalog, is virtually the same. However, there are substantial differences between the two courses in terms of grading scale and expected quality of work. Separate grading curves are maintained (historically, there is a full grade-point differential in the curves), and PHYCS 5720 students are expected to produce a class project of significantly greater depth than PHYCS 3730 students. Aside from these differences, the courses may be treated as one. Here, the name "p5720" refers to both courses.
The overall flow of the course starts from an introduction to unix and the basics of working in the unix environment. These include handling files, editing, plotting, printing and document preparation. Next we will discuss programming languages and techniques with focus on scientific problems. Finally we will consider the use of math library packages, including "canned" software to be integrated into user applications and symbolic manipulations using Maple.
Along the way we will encounter some numerical topics, including integration, statistical analysis and data modeling, solution of ordinary and partial differential equations, and spectral methods (Fourier transforms and wavelets).
The material presented in this course is a series of tools begging for applications, examples of which will be provided as homework assignments and lab exercises. Students are encouraged to suggest particular topics or problems which would be of interest.
All students will be given accounts on Department of Physics computers for doing the homework assignments, class project, and final exam.
During the course you may have questions about homework or other aspects about the course. Please contact the instructor and TA using the p5720@physics.utah.edu address. Both the instructor and the TA will regularly check email coming to that address.
Please pay attention to the announcements page for messages from the instructor and TA regarding homework updates, class schedules, etc. Once a class roster is in place, all announcements will also be emailed directly to the students.
Other details about the course can be found and/or inferred from the following links:
Finally, students are encouraged to work together on homework assignments. However, all submitted work must be original. (You will be instructed as to how you can ensure that no one is electronically "peeking over your shoulder" at your own work.)
PLEASE NOTE the following messages from The Administration:
1.) There is no substitute day for the Fall semester!!!!!!!
2.) With the drop date being pushed back to ten calendar days into the semester, there is no longer a period when students can withdraw from a class without incurring full tuition penalties.
Last day to drop (delete) classes: Fri., Sept. 1.
Last day to add classes: Tues., Sept. 5.
Last day to withdraw from classes: Fri., October 20
Explanations for instructors and students:
* Students can drop class by phone or web through Friday,
September 1, and the classes will not appear on their transcripts.
* Students can withdraw from classes by phone or web, but will
be held responsible for tuition, through Friday, October 20. A *W*
will appear on their transcript for these courses.