Physics 263 -- Spring, 2006

Welcome to the Physics 263 home page!
URL: http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~ntg/263/physics263.php
The course information and content is available here. Please check this page regularly.

Recent changes to this page:

• 09-Jun-2006 --- Solutions to the final exam are posted below.
• 07-Jun-2006 --- FINAL EXAM TODAY at 11:30am in 1005.
• 05-Jun-2006 --- Here is a copy of last year's final for practice (i.e., without the solutions).
• 03-Jun-2006 --- Reminder: The final exam is Wednesday at 11:30am in Smith 1005. The final is comprehensive.
• 03-Jun-2005 --- Solutions for PS#18 are available below (all the solutions to quizzes, homeworks, the midterm, and the final from last year are posted).
• 22-May-2006 --- Here is an example of calculating matrix cofactors.
• 21-May-2006 --- Two links were sent anonymously: a resonance demo and a quantum comic.
• 19-May-2006 --- Solutions for PS#15, quiz 6, session 8, and the Chapter 8 practice problems are posted below.
• 11-May-2006 --- Here is a nice little movie illustratrating coriolis acceleration.
• 05-May-2006 --- If you are getting a "you cannot login interactively on this system" message when trying to use the 1011 computers, please email me your username and I'll try to get it fixed.
• 29-Apr-2006 --- Smith Lecture reminder: 2001 Nobel Prize Winner Wolfgang Ketterle will speak on "When Freezing Cold is not Cold Enough: New Forms of Matter Close to Absolute Zero Temperature." It will be on Thursday, May 4, 2006 at 8pm in 131 Hitchcock Hall. Check out some nice pictures from Ketterle's lab.
• 21-Feb-2006 --- Physics 263 pre-season. The webpage from Spring 2005 is still available.

Contents

• Send feedback to the instructor -- anonymous or not
• Course description and info
• Assignments
  • Readings from Shankar
  • Assigned problems, hints, and solutions
• 1094 Sessions
• Exam, Practice Problem, and 1094 Session Solutions
• Handouts and Notes
  • PDF copies of handouts
• Resources
  • Additional References
  • Matlab Examples

Send Comments or Questions about Physics 263

Send regular email to Prof. Furnstahl at furnstahl.1@osu.edu

Return to Contents

Assignments

Readings from Shankar BTM Text

Return to Contents

Problem Sets

Click on the problem set number to get a copy of the assignment.

Return to Contents

Exam, Practice Problem, and 1094 session Solutions

Please report any errors you find in these solutions.

Return to Contents

1094 Sessions

Copies of any handouts are available from Prof. Furnstahl or online below.

Return to Contents

Handouts and Notes

You (mostly) have your choice of postscript (ps) or PDF format. If you're not sure, try PDF (and read it with Adobe Acrobat).

Return to Contents

Math Methods and Computational Physics References

• Reading Lists
• Computational Science Reading List --- also includes links to relevant sites
• Books on Computational Physics
• Math Methods Texts (see the links for descriptions)
• Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences 2nd Ed. by Mary L. Boas. Comprehensive reference recommended by R. Shankar.
• All You Wanted to Know about Mathematics but Were Afraid to Ask: Volume 1: Mathematics Applied to Science and All You Wanted to Know About Mathematics but Were Afraid to Ask: Volume 2 : Mathematics for Science Students by Louis Lyons.
• Div, Grad, Curl, and All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus by H.M. Schey. Classic intuitive introduction to vector calculus. Average rating on Amazon from 21 reviews: 5 stars!
• Mathematical Methods for Physicists by George B. Arken and Hans J. Weber. Graduate level bible on mathematical methods.
• MATLAB References (see the links for descriptions)
• Getting MATLAB at OSU
• OSU MATLAB license announcement.
• MATLAB: An Introduction with Applications 2nd Ed. by Amos Gilat. Used in several engineering courses at OSU (or recommended as a reference in the courses).
• Getting Started with MATLAB: A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers by Rudra Pratap. Also a reference for an engineering course at OSU. (Current edition is for MATLAB version 6; a new edition for version 7 is out later in 2005.)
• Linear Algebra Labs with MATLAB 3rd Ed. by David R. Hill and David E. Zitarelli. Used in the Math Department at OSU.
• Mastering MATLAB 7 by Duane Hanselman and Bruce Littlefield. Comprehensive guide to MATLAB.
• Computational Physics Texts
• Computational Physics: Problem Solving with Computers by Rubin H. Landau and Manuel J. Paez. The webpage includes tutorial includes tutorial links and errata lists.
• Numerical Methods for Physics, 2nd Ed. by Alejandro L. Garcia. The 2nd edition has C++ program listings, as well as fortran and Matlab.
• Websites (course pages, etc.)
• PhysicsSongs.org has links to songs about physics. One of my favorites is the 'Alpha Decay Song', sung to the Village People's 'YMCA'. Or check out 'Mathematical Pi' to the tune of 'American Pie'. Or 'Maxwell's Equations' to the tune of the Beatles' 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer'.

Return to Contents

Matlab Examples

Return to Contents