Astronomy 698: Computational Astrophysics (Spring 2008)

Lectures:Mondays & Wednesdays   2:30pm - 3:45pm, Astronomy #119
Textbook:The C Programming Language, by Brian Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie (required)
Webpage: http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/nicole/teaching/ASTR698
Instructor: Prof. Nicole P. Vogt
Office hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 3:45 - 5:10, Astronomy #203
Phone: 646-6522
Email: nicole (please add @nmsu.edu)

This course is valued at 3 credits, and is a single semester in length. Our goal is to cover the basics of computer programming in the C language and the efficient creation of scientific figures and diagrams, and to explore key algorithms and standard techniques for data analysis. We will study the use of makefiles, pointers, data structures, dynamic memory allocation, and linking to both local and external libraries. We will discuss sort routines, weighted and unweighted least squares fitting of various functions, grid and iterative search methods, LCG random number generators, Monte Carlo simulations, numerical integration, and astronomical image manipulation.

This course will be conducted as an upper-division graduate seminar, with substantial student input during all sessions.

Background
This course is designed for graduate students with some background in physics and astronomy. Previous experience in computer programming will be helpful, but is not required.