Computational Physics

Conveying the excitement and allure of physics, this progressive text uses a computational approach to introduce students to the basic numerical techniques used in dealing with topics and problems of prime interest to today's physicists. *Contains a wealth of topics to allow instructors flexibility in the choice of topics and depth of coverage: *Examines projective motion with and without realistic air resistance. * Discusses planetary motion and the three-body problem. * Explores chaotic motion of the pendulum and waves on a string. * Considers topics relating to fractal growth and stochastic systems. * Offers examples on statistical physics and quantum mechanics. *Contains ample explanations of the necessary algorithms students need to help them write original programs, and provides many example programs and calculations for reference. * Students and instructors may access sample programs through the authors web site: http: //www.physics.purdue.edu/ ng/comp_phys.html *Includes a significant amount of additional material and problems to give students and instructors flexibility in the choice of topics and depth of coverage