DOC PREVIEW
UMD ASTR 415 - Syllabus

This preview shows page 1 out of 4 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 4 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 4 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

Astronomy 415 - Fall 2010“Computational Astrophysics”InstructorProf. Massimo RicottiOffice: CSS 0213E-mail: [email protected]: (301) 405 5097Office hours: Tu 2:30-3:30Class web page: ht t p:// w ww .a st r o.umd.edu/∼ricotti/NEWWEB/teaching/ASTR415-10.htmlClass ScheduleLectures on Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30pm to 13:45 pmRoom CSS 2428SYLLABUSThe course does not require previous programming expe rie nce but if you do not knowhow to programm already, by the e nd of this course, you will! My ”native” programminglanguage is the old Fortran77, but to make this course more e xciting I will refresh my Cand Java knowledge and pretend I know how to program in those languages too. Alongthe way I may co mplement the lectures with power point presentations available on theweb on co mputational astrophysics. I will keep the webpage update d and link all thecourse material there.Course DescriptionThis course will provide the ast r onomy student with a basic knowledge of numerical meth-ods in astrophysics. By the end of the c ourse students should be comforta ble wor king in aUnix environment, compiling and running codes, and employing a variety of visualizationtechniques to analyze the results. This process will be motivated by c oncrete examples ofmodern problems in astrophysics that demand numerical approaches.The exact details of the material covered will depend on the existing level of computersophistication among the class participants. However, in broad outline the majo r coursetopics will include linear algebra, root finding, lea st -square fitting, Monte Carlo methods,num e r ical integration, N-body methods, fluid dynamics, FFTs and time-series analysis.Recommended TextsThere is no required text fo r this course. The f ollowing rec ommendations may be helpfulto you. Note that much of the course material will f ollow, Numerical Recipes, which isavailable online. Most in-class programming examples will b e in Fortran77, but you arefree to chose from any suitable languages for completing the assignments.Aarseth, S. J. 2 003, “Gravitatio na l -body Simulations: Tools and Algorithms,” Ca mbridgeUniv. Press.Hockney, R. W., and J. W. Eastwood 1988, “Computer Simulation Using Particles,”Hilger. [Out of print?]Kernigan, B. W., and D. M. Ritchie 1988, “The C Programming Language” (2nd e d.),Prentice-Hall.Peek, J. D., et al. 1997, “Learning the Unix Operating System (Nutshell Handbook)”(4th ed.), O’Reilly.Prata, S. 1998, “The Waite Group’s C Primer Plus” (3rd ed.), Howard W. Sams & Co.Press, W.H. et al. 1992, “Numerical Recipes in Fortran [or C or C++]” (2nd ed.),Cambridge Univ Press - visit the we bsite at http://www.nr.com/.Yee, H.C. 1989, “A class of High-resolution Explicit and Implicit Shock-Capturing Meth-ods”, Tech. Report Lecture Series 1989-04, von Karma n Institute of Fluid Dynamics[difficult to find?]Course GradingA 87.5% and aboveB 75 to below 87.5%C 62.5 to below 75%D 50 to below 62.5%F below 50%There will be no exams in this course. Grades will be determined by homework assign-ments plus one term paper. The assignments will be wo r th 80% of your final grade; theterm paper will be 20%.There will be no curve on the final grades. There may need to be some adjustmentto scores depending on the class average; however, any adjustment will be to lowe r thepercentages given above, never to raise them.AssignmentsMost assignments involve programming exercises. To make evaluating your work eas ier ,you must e-mail me a single “stand-alone” file containing all your work by the start ofclass on the day the assignment is due. The file (e.g., a gizp tar archive or a zip file)must contain a suitable forma t ted respo nse ( e .g., PDF, Poscript, Word document, etc) tothe questions posed in the assignment, along with a description of the remaining contentsof the file, including, as needed, instructions on compiling and running any source code.Ideally a Makefile should be provided. Any static graphical output (plots, etc.) shouldbe e mbe dded in the response document.I will compile and run your co de with a set of test paramet e r s to ensure correct function-ality and error handling. I will also consider your coding style when evaluating your work.I discourage the use of any program ming language o ther than Fortran77, Fortran90 , C,C++ and Java.Assignments that are late will automatically incur a 20% penalty unless there are extenu-ating circumstances. Late assignments must be completed before the solutions are postedon the web to get any credit.You may work in groups to discuss programming strategy, but you must submit your ownsolution to each assignment. Note that, just as for written prose, it is necessary to citethe source of any a lg orithms you use in completing assignments. This includes NumericalRecipes ro utines that you use.Students with Special NeedsStudents with a documented disability who wish to discuss academic accommodationsshould contact me as soon as possible.Tentative Course OutlineDate Lecture Reading (NRiC)#1 Aug 31 Introduction to the course and survey –#2 Sep 02 Computer architecture, part 1 –#3 Sep 07 Computer architecture, part 2 –#4 Sep 09 Introduction to UNIX tutorial#5 Sep 14 Introduction to C 1.1-1.2, tutorial#6 Sep 16 Introduction to visualization tutorial#7 Sep 21 Data representation 1.3#8 Sep 23 Linear algebra , part 1 (Gauss-Jordan elimination) 2.0-2.3#9 Sep 28 Linear algebra , part 2 (LU & SVD decomposition) 2.4-2.6#10 Sep 30 Root finding in 1-D 9.0-9.1, 9.4, 9.6#11 Oct 05 Root finding in multi-D, and numerical differentiation 5.7#12 Oct 07 Statistics and the K-S test 14.0-14.3#13 Oct 12 Least-squares fitting 15.0-15.2, 15.4-1 5.5#14 Oct 14 Random numbers and cryptogr aphy 7.0-7.2#15 Oct 19 Numerical integration 7.6, 4.0-4.4, 4.6#16 Oct 21 Inte gration of ODEs, part 1 (IVPs) 16.0-16.1#17 Oct 26 Inte gration of ODEs, part 2 (leapfrog) –#18 Oct 28 Inte gration of ODEs, part 3 (stiff ODEs & 2-pt BVPs) 16.6, 17.0#19 Nov 02 N-b ody techniques, part 1 –#20 Nov 04 N-b ody techniques, part 2 (PP) –#21 Nov 09 N-b ody techniques, part 3 (PM) 19.0, 19.4-19.6#22 Nov 11 N-b ody techniques, part 4 (tree) –#23 Nov 16 Inte gration of PDEs, part 1 (ell & hyp) 19.0-19.1#24 Nov 18 Inte gration of PDEs, part 2 (hyp & par) 19.2#25 Nov 23 Fluid dynamics, part 1 (eqns) –– Nov 25 no class (Thanksgiving) –#26 Nov 30 Fluid dynamics, part 2 (methods) 19.3#27 Dec 02 Miscellaneous topics –#28 Dec 07 Term project


View Full Document

UMD ASTR 415 - Syllabus

Download Syllabus
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Syllabus and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Syllabus 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?