Welcome to Computational Mathematics and Introduction to Computational Physics!

Welcome to Introduction to Computational Physics/Computational Mathematics (“CompSMAP”) at the University of Portsmouth. In this course we will introduce you to the python language, illustrate how to use it to solve problems, and teach you how to use the main libraries used in data science.

This course will give you skills you will need later in your degree (e.g. in final year projects), and will provide you with skills that are in high demand in industry today. Ask your fellow students in higher years who have done placement years, or who are doing projects how often they use these computational skills.

Remember that this course is built around interaction, so most importantly:

• Come to the timetabled sessions every week.

• Engage with us and ask questions.

• It is okay, and normal, to find this hard. Please engage with us though and use the drop-in sessions. We will do our best to help you understand this.

• The Academic Tutors are also available to provide one-to-one help. Do engage with them!

This is the “storyboard” for this module, showing where we are and where we’re going. Please let me know if you want this in an alternative format for accessibility.

Follow the links below, or the links on the side, to access individual lectures’ material!

• Lecture 1: Introduction

• Lecture 2: Functions, Logic and Conditionals

• Lecture 3: Loops and Lists

• Lecture 4: Data Types

• Lecture 5: Numpy

• Lecture 6: Visualisation

• Lecture 7: Debugging

• Lecture 8: Pandas and dataframes

• Lecture 9: Root Finding

• Lecture 10: Numerical Integration