Computational Physics (2nd Edition) (2025)

(websites.umich.edu)

93 points by teleforce8 hours ago

6 comments

friendlyasparag4 hours ago
I took Mark Newman’s course some years ago. It was fantastic! Geared at sophomore/ junior year physics major — someone who had completed the basic intro sequence. I am sure this book is also great.
lkm02 hours ago
The matplotlib chapter seems fairly barebones but I remain in awe at this gorgeous latex work
- emil-lp1 hour ago
 Isn't it a pretty standard book/memoir template?He could have invested in a Python syntax highlighter. I use minted, myself, but I'm sure there are many alternatives.
vectorcrumb6 hours ago
Could somebody provide some opinion on the book and/or accompanying course?
- braedonwatkins2 hours ago
 I read most of the 1st edition (busy), I'm sure it hasn't changed much to the 2nd. I would say it's rather good at an introductory level to the subject!It definitely targets physics undergrads who have never programmed so if that's not you then you may feel friction during some chapters. If, like me, you are much more developed in programming than physics you might just want to do the exercises in the first few chapters to check your knowledge and move on to the good bits.If you're looking for something more rigorous I would bet [Numerical Recipes](<a href="https://numerical.recipes/" rel="nofollow">https://numerical.recipes/</a>) is better (I haven't read it but I want to; see "busy").
HexDecOctBin6 hours ago
What physics do I need to know to follow this book?
- griffzhowl5 hours ago
 Looks like not much. The book is about using Python to implement numerical methods, mainly about teaching the Python part, and that's all explained. You might be missing motivation if you don't know any physics, but even so, basic mechanics using differential equations seems to be enough to give context, at least for the earlier parts
- mapt6 hours ago
 > Exercises by chapterClick on a chapter to download:Chapter 2: Python programming for physicistsChapter 3: Graphics and visualizationChapter 4: Accuracy and speedChapter 5: Integrals and derivativesChapter 6: Solution of linear and nonlinear equationsChapter 7: Fourier transformsChapter 8: Ordinary differential equationsChapter 9: Partial differential equationsChapter 10: Random processes and Monte Carlo methodsChapter 11: Data science
- kordlessagain2 hours ago
 Weber's Electrodynamics.
ktallett5 hours ago
I did a few courses across academic years that were based around this book and it's very handy skills to learn. Whilst perhaps not in the moment, it's a good introduction to implementing functions and equations, before you lead on to the next steps of specific functions and methods of analysis alongside hpc with parallelization.
ninjahawk15 hours ago
good book