22.15 | Fall 2014 | Graduate

Essential Numerical Methods

Course Description

This half-semester course introduces computational methods for solving physical problems, especially in nuclear applications. The course covers ordinary and partial differential equations for particle orbit, and fluid, field, and particle conservation problems; their representation and solution by finite difference …
This half-semester course introduces computational methods for solving physical problems, especially in nuclear applications. The course covers ordinary and partial differential equations for particle orbit, and fluid, field, and particle conservation problems; their representation and solution by finite difference numerical approximations; iterative matrix inversion methods; stability, convergence, accuracy and statistics; and particle representations of Boltzmann’s equation and methods of solution such as Monte-Carlo and particle-in-cell techniques.
Learning Resource Types
Tutorial Videos
Problem Sets
Exams
Online Textbook
Programming Assignments
Instructor Insights
Three-dimensional plot with a single substantial maximum rising above a planar surface.
Two-dimensional Maxwellian distribution-function, typical of gas molecules or plasma particles in solutions of the Boltzmann equation and atomistic simulations. (Image by Ian Hutchinson.)