DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM | A Proposed Computational Core for the Undergraduate Physics Curriculum

Speaker: Jan Tobochnik (Kalamazoo College)

Much has been written on computational physics as a third way of doing physics. There are now a number of textbooks on computational physics and computer simulations. In addition, many physics textbooks now include computational-based problems, and a few discuss some basic algorithms. We will discuss what every undergraduate physics major should know about computational physics, including essential algorithms, minimal level of programming experience, and computational ways of thinking (when to use the computer and when not, how to obtain insight from computational activities, and new ways of thinking about models).