Computational Physics - Softcover

"The growing importance of computational physics to physics research as a whole will depend not only on increasingly powerful computers, but also on the continuing development of algorithms and numerical techniques for putting these machines to use. Furthermore, physics departments will need to augment their curricula to provide students with the skills needed to perform research using computers....In Computational Physics, Joseph M. Thijssen has produced a book that is well suited to meeting these needs....This book makes it easier to approach a new topic and encourages the reader to consider a modular approach when writing programs." Physics Today

This book describes computational methods used in theoretical physics with emphasis on condensed matter applications. Computational physics involves the use of computer calculations and simulations to solve physical problems. Following an overview of the wide variety of topics and algorithmic approaches studied in this book, the text explores quantum scattering with a spherically symmetric potential as a typical example of a computational physics problem. The next chapters concentrate on electronic structure calculations, presenting the Hartree-Fock and Density Functional formalisms, and band structure methods. Later chapters discuss molecular dynamics simulations and Monte Carlo methods in classical and quantum physics, with applications to condensed matter and particle field theories. Each chapter begins with an exposition of necessary fundamentals, describes the formation of a sample program and ends with problems addressing related analytical and numerical issues. Useful appendices on numerical methods and random number generators are included and the book contains extensive references.