Reading before class is important. Since we have an "active learning" classroom, you are expected to be exposed to the material before class!
Reading Assignments for Physics 1655
Check this page for each week's reading assignment. Please read each week's material before class on Monday. Usually there is a short “Reading Quiz” posted on Canvas under the “Quizzes” tab. These are due by 11 am on Tuesday before lecture.
Links to the books here. Online version available for free through the UVa Library system.
PDFs of the main books are also linked under Canvas resources.
| Week 0 | Jan 18 | Read this short Linux beginners guide. (no quiz) |
| Week 1 | Jan 23 | Emacs, ways to run python: Sundnes Ch.1 and Ch.2 (Don't forget Quiz1!) |
| Week 2 | Jan 30 | Sundnes Review Ch.2. Complete the 'Python Introduction' section of this tutorial: https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/first-program. You don't need to install any software! Ignore that part. Note that this is 9 short tutorial pages. You can find some information about how to use the tutorials here. Basically, you should login to Rivanna (Desktop or Jupyter) and try out the Python commands being discussed. (Don't forget Quiz2!) |
| Week 3 | Feb 6 | Sundnes Review Ch.2. Read Ch.3; 7.4; Read about Monte Carlo integration here. You won't understand the code yet, but just try to understand the process. Complete the 'Python Flow Control' section (5 short pages) of this tutorial:https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/if-elif-else. (Don't forget Quiz3!) |
| Week 4 | Feb 13 | Sundnes Review Ch.2.3 Read 6.1; Complete the 'Python Data Types' section (6 short pages) https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/numbers |
| Week 5 | Feb 20 | Sundnes: Ch. 5, For Numpy Ref VandePlas Ch. 2; Complete the 'Python Files' section (5 short pages) https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/file-operation |
| Week 6 | Feb 27 | Sundnes functions Ch.4 Sundnes: classes Ch.8; (some of this is review - just skim that part if you want). Complete the 'Python Functions' section (5 short pages) https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/function |
| Week 7 | Mar 5 | Spring Break |
| Week 8 | Mar 12 | Wood Ch. 10 Sundnes: 6.2 --> 6.5 No Quiz this week - part of your Spring Break! |
| Week 9 | Mar 19 | Review: Wood Ch. 10 Sundnes: 6.2 --> 6.5 Review the Poisson Distribution and the Gaussian ("Normal") Distribution. Don't forget Reading Quiz 7! |
| Week 10 | Mar 26 | Review review the Poisson Distribution and the Gaussian ("Normal") Distribution , and a short Chi^2 distribution youTube video:
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| Week 11 | Apr 2 | Wood Ch. 11 |
| Week 12 | Apr 9 | For Pandas reference see VandePlas Ch. 3 (read introduction and skim). For plotting with Pandas see VandePlas Ch. 4. These chapters are long - they are for reference. Read the introductions and skim to see what is available in Pandas. Last reading quiz! |
| Week 13 | Apr 16 | For Machine Learning reference see VandePlas Ch. 5 |
| Week 14 | Apr 23 | For Machine Learning reference see VandePlas Ch. 5 |