3 EC
Semester 1 & 2, period 3, 6
5354MAFP3Y
The numerical and analytical possibilities of Mathematica. Examples are taken from quantum mechanics and from real world more global problems. Effective use of Mathematica will be discussed, in particular for the following functions/tasks:
• Plots (of data, of arrays of data, of functions, of functions with more variable, of complex functions)
• Lists (create, process, select)
• Map, Apply and pure functions (for instance to process lists)
• The various assignments and equal signs (statement or questions? when provided or when needed?)
• Rules and patterns (for instance to avoid assignments)
• Analytical and numerical solutions of differential equations (in particular the Schrödinger equation, both stationary and time dependent)
• Physical constants, units, entities and external data
• Reading in experimental or in any case external data, processing data (e.g. fitting)
Each student should have access to a laptop with Mathematica installed on it.
The goal of this computer practicum is to understand how the Computer Algebra System Mathematica works and to learn how it can be used with both experimental data and with theoretical models. After this course the student can:
• Use Mathematica to process experimental data (plot, select, transform, e.g. Fourier transform data)
• Find and visualise consequences of theories (solve both analytically and numerically both ordinary and partial differential equations)
• Confront theoretical and experimental results.
• Learn how to efficiently use computer resources and handle large amount of data with Mathematica (the strong and the weak points of Mathematica)
The collective teaching will be minimal. Emphasis is on student programming and problem solving with direct, individual and immediate interaction, help and feedback. Because of this direct support, projects and be started what would otherwise be considered too risky in terms of time investment or chance of remaining unfinished.
This is a 3 EC course. The course has 32 contact hours. It is expected that a student spents in addition around 50 hours of self study to this course. This course requires a time investment between 80 and 90 hours.
Requirements concerning attendance (OER-B).
Additional requirements for this course:
Because of the nature of the course (direct and immediate feedback) it is expected that a student attends all sessions. Contact the teacher in advance when attendance of a session is not possible.
There are 8 sessions: all Monday mornings and all Wednesday mornings from 9:00 to 13:00. The course starts Monday January 8, 2019. All sessions are in D1.110.
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Final grade |
The evaluation process starts already during the sessions. Asking questions, talking with us; you are already showing how you work and your attitude in solving the main tasks in the exercises.
Every week we ask you to solve two assignments in the form of notebooks. The assignments of that week have to be sent before the next week. They will be corrected and sent back with comments. These accumulated comments represent a way for us to guide you to a correct use of Mathematica. You are expected to read the corrections and not repeat the same mistakes! The comments can also contain suggestions.
Half way the course an indicative mark will be given, based on the results so far.
The assignments are the first step of the evaluation. This is the reason why we expect you to write a proper report, including title and subsections and structure. It is considered important to comment your work, not only in terms of physics but also in terms of coding.
One week before the end of the course, we will present you a list of suggested exercises. You are suppose to choose one of them which will represent your last assignment. Because of the larger complexity of this exercise, we will give you more time to solve it. The deadline will be a week after the last lesson of the course. You will start to work on it before the end of the course, and particularly during the last lesson, so you will have a lot of time to ask questions and to receive help from us. We even give you an extra opportunity. Wherever you have a project you want to realize in Mathematica, even related to another course, you can communicate it to us, and we will evaluate whether it is a good project to be presented as a personal last assignment, instead of one of the project in the list.
The final mark is dominated by the result of the last assignment.
Criteria for the final mark are:
Effective use of Mathematica (so not pseudo Python, Fortran or C)
Level of the solved physics problem
Directness and clarity of the code
Readability of the work (documentation)
Common sense (no useless repetition, useless limitation, unused generalizations)
Originality (in the subject or in the approach, or both. no epsilon deviations of given examples, no copies from other sources)
The course is completely bases on assessed assignments. The subjects are:
1 Notebooks, Lists, Plots
2 Pure functions, Map and Apply, avoiding loops
3 Rules, Patterns
4 ODEs, PDEs, precision
5 Constants, units, entities
6 Importing and processing data
7 Combining functions and data
8 Your own project (numerous suggestions are given)
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
The course structure is based on the assignments.
The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.
In contrast to earlier years, this course will only be given in January.