Physics 410: Computational Physics: Homework & Projects


This document will be updated throughout the course.

Assignments (due dates subject to change)

  • Homework 1: Due Wednesday, October 2, 11:59 PM [PDF]
  • Project 1: Due Friday October 18, 11:59 PM [PDF]
  • Homework 2: Due Friday, November 1, 11:59 PM [PDF]
  • Project 2: Due Monday, December 2, 11:59 PM [PDF]

Guidelines for Writeups

It is probably best to treat your writeups as formal lab reports (or at least what a theorist's conception of formal lab reports might be!). To that end consider using the following structure:

  1. Introduction
    • Overview of the problem at hand; can be quite brief for the homework assignments, should be longer for the projects.
  2. Review of theory
    • Provide an overview of the relevant theory, including the definition of all pertinent problem parameters, and an exposition of the requisite equations (even if that means repeating equations which appear in the handout).
  3. Numerical approach
    • Description of the methodology that is used to solve the problem. Include appropriate equations as necessary, but don't unduly repeat equations from the theory section. Indeed, you may find it more natural to combine the theory and numerical approach sections.
  4. Implementation (optional)
    • Discussion of any particularly tricky pieces of code that you used.  Include code snippets in place; do not include all of your code in the main body of writeup.
  5. Results
    • Description of your findings, including (but not necessarily limited to) all deliverables identified in the handout.
    • Graphs: Ensure that all graphs are professionally prepared with proper axes labels and, in the case of multiple datasets on a single plot, a legend. All graphs should have an informative caption, which should begin with an appropriate title for the plot.  Explicit plot titles (i.e. in the plot itself) are not needed.
  6. Discussion/Conclusions
    • Briefly summarize your findings (again, more extensively in the case of projects).
    • Discuss any particular problems you had with the homework/project.
    • Include your statement concerning your use or non-use of generative AI here.
  7. Appendix: code listing (optional)
    • You are not required to include your code in your writeup.  If you want to, it should be included in an appendix.