Computational Physics
 Dr. Paul Abbott at
the University of Western Australia teaches a third-year,
undergraduate-level computational physics course. The broad categories
of computational physics are simulation, visualization, and
modeling. At a finer scale, computational physics embraces a wide
range of areas including numerical methods, algorithms, and data
analysis. Simulation and modeling are usually taught by stressing
numerical techniques. Dr. Abbott's course focuses on symbolic
computation, using Mathematica in particular. The course has
two objectives:
- To use computers as an aid to understanding real physical systems
- To learn efficient methods for the analysis of these systems
Power and Convenience
Dr. Abbott uses Mathematica for computer presentation and demos in all of
his lectures and in assignments for his second-year courses, Electromagnetism
and Biophysics Data Analysis, and for his fourth-year Wavelets Honours
Module (including the exams and the exam solutions). In addition, he gives two
third-year, laboratory-based courses, Computational Physics and Computational
Biophysics, each consisting of a set of Mathematica
notebooks.
When asked why he chose Mathematica, Dr. Abbott replied, "I
like Mathematica as a teaching tool because I can easily
illustrate complicated concepts. It is relevant because it is a tool
with which students can interact and is much richer than custom
software which usually illustrates only a very small number of
concepts.
"I use Mathematica for all of my lectures, talks, and
seminars. The excellent front end is especially useful as an elegant
and powerful documentation/presentation environment. To me, there is
no better mathematical typesetting system than Mathematica
because it is fully programmable and customizable, and the typeset
expressions are executable. Also, it is the most powerful and
convenient graphical language that I'm aware of.
"The introduction of the Help Browser in 3.0 made it a lot easier
to get students started and over the initial hurdles. I now make more
use of palettes and TraditionalForm notation, and I have
found that this seems to assist students."
The Student Standard
Furthermore, his students not only appreciate using Mathematica
in his courses but also continue to use it in later studies and after
graduation.
"The clearest indication that students have benefited from my (and other
Mathematica) courses is that I find many such students
using Mathematica for courses with no Mathematica
component. Also, a number of our Honours students have produced their
research dissertations as Mathematica notebooks." Two good
examples are:
- Mark Maslen,
"Wavelet Transforms via Lifting" (1997).
- David Whyte, "Partitioned Transport in Laminates: Solution via
Symbolic Computation" (1997).
Research and Results
Dr. Abbott not only uses Mathematica for his courses but also
finds it integral to his research. Two examples of his research that
make heavy use of Mathematica are:
- Maslen, M., and Abbott, P. C. "Automation of the Lifting
Factorisation of Wavelet Transforms." Computer Physics
Communications 127 (2000), 309-326.
- Hurley, A. C,; Moodie, A. F.; Johnson, A. W. S.; and Abbott,
P. C., "The Role of Projection Operators in the Theory of N-Beam
Diffraction and the Inversion of Three-Beam Elastic Scattering
Intensities," Acta Crystallographica A55 (1999) 216-219.
To learn more about Dr. Abbott's courses, including course descriptions,
syllabuses, and Mathematica-based course materials, visit his website.
Contact Information
Dr. Paul Abbott
The University of Western Australia
web: http://physics.uwa.edu.au/~paul
Send email to Paul Abbott
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