Python

(Material from fall 2021 will be updated as course proceeds.)

• Python is a standard, interpreted computer language which can be downloaded and run on your PC. For this course, version 3.8 of Python available from Anaconda is recommended: https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/. The Anaconda distribution will automatically install all of the libraries necessary for mathematical operations (sin, cosh, definite integrals, etc.) as well as libraries for plotting graphs.
• The use of a Jupyter notebook for each assignement is recommended. These can be viewed and edited in your web brower and this system is also provided in the Anaconda distribution above. (For example, the Anaconda Navagator has a link which starts up a Jupyter notebook manager.)
• Once you have Python and Jupyter installed on your laptop, you can try out the example files which will listed below by
  • Going to the Jupyter window in your browser which lists Jupyter notebooks to open.
  • Clicking on the "upload" button on the right-hand side.
  • Copying the web address given in the links below (or the link provided in pdf file for the problem assignment)
  • Uploading and opening the notebook
• References which may be useful include:
  • Learning Scientific Programming with Python, Christian Hill, Cambridge University Press,2015, ISBN 978-1-107-42822-5
  • Python tutorial and documentation: http://docs.python.org/3.8
  • Interactive Python (including Jupyter): http://ipython.org/documentation.html
  • General numeric support (NumPy): https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/reference/
  • Scientific support (SciPy): https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/
  • Graphic support (MatPlotLib): https://matplotlib.org/contents.html

Jupyter notebooks for lecture and problem sets

• Example of projectile motion from 9/15/2022 lecture: http://www.columbia.edu/~nhc1/UN2801/Python/ProjectileMotion.ipynb
• Example of planetary motion as a starting point for problem 65 in problem set #8: http://www.columbia.edu/~nhc1/UN2801/Python/PlanetaryMotion.ipynb
• Comparison of Euler and Leapfrog integrators from 11/08/2022 lecture: http://www.columbia.edu/~nhc1/UN2801/Python/Leapfrog.ipynb