Programs and data
This page contains Python programs and data that accompany the book Computational Physics, 2nd edition, by Mark Newman. You're welcome to download and use these resources freely. Comments and questions are welcome.
Resources are listed by chapter, programs first, then data files, if any. Also included are the programs from the appendices. There are no programs or data for chapters 1 or 12.
All the resources on this page can be downloaded at once, as a single zip file, by clicking here.
Chapter 2: Python programming for physicists
| dropped.py
| Calculate the position of a ball dropped from a tower
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| evenodd.py
| Check two integers to ensure one is even and the other odd
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| fibonacci.py
| Print out the Fibonacci numbers up to 1000
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| polar.py
| Convert from polar to Cartesian coordinates
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| rydberg.py
| Print out the wavelengths of hydrogen lines
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Chapter 3: Graphics and visualization
| circular.py
| Make a density plot from the data in a file
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| hrdiagram.py
| Calculate and display a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for a catalog of nearby stars
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| lattice.py
| Create a visualization of a square lattice
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| revolve.py
| Make a circle revolve around the screen
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| ripples.py
| Calculate and display the interference pattern generated by two circular sets of waves
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| spin.py
| Make a square spin around on the screen
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| circular.txt
| Data for the circular pattern in Fig. 3.5
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| stars.txt
| Catalog of temperatures and magnitudes for 7860 nearby stars
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| stm.txt
| STM measurements of the (111) surface of silicon
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| sunspots.txt
| Data on sunspots since 1749
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Chapter 4: Accuracy and speed
| madelung.py
| Calculate the Madelung constant for sodium chloride
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Chapter 5: Integrals and derivatives
| autodiff.py
| Demonstration of automatic differentiation
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| gaussint.py
| Evaluate an integral using Gaussian quadrature
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| intinf.py
| Evaluate an integral over an infinite domain
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| trapezoidal.py
| Evaluate an integral using the trapezoidal rule
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| altitude.txt
| Altitude in meters of points on the Earth's surface
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| stm.txt
| STM measurements of the (111) surface of silicon
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| velocities.txt
| Velocity of a particle over time
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Chapter 6: Solution of linear and
nonlinear equations
| atanh.py
| Calculate an inverse hyperbolic tangent by
Newton's method
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| buckingham.py
| Find the minimum of the Buckingham potential
using golden ratio search
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| ferromag.py
| Calculate the magnetization of a ferromagnet
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| gausselim.py
| Solve simultaneous equations by Gaussian elimination
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| springs.py
| Calculate the motion of system of masses and springs
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| springsb.py
| Simpler program for the masses and springs
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Chapter 7: Fourier transforms
| dft.py
| Calculate a DFT the slow way
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| fft.py
| Example of a fast Fourier transform
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| blur.txt
| Digitized blurry image
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| dow.txt
| Daily closing values of the Dow from 2006 to 2010
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| dow2.txt
| Daily closing values of the Dow from 2004 to 2008
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| piano.txt
| Waveform of a single note played on a piano
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| pitch.txt
| An oscillating signal with noise
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| sunspots.txt
| Data on sunspots since 1749
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| trumpet.txt
| Waveform of a single note played on a trumpet
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Chapter 8: Ordinary differential equations
| bulirsch.py
| Solve the nonlinear using the Bulirsch-Stoer method
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| euler.py
| Solve a differential equation using Euler's method
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| odeinf.py
| Solve a differential equation out to infinity
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| odesim.py
| Solve simultaneous first-order differential equations
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| rk2.py
| Solve a differential equation using 2nd-order Runge-Kutta
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| rk4.py
| Solve a differential equation using 4th-order Runge-Kutta
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| squarewell.py
| Solve the Schrodinger equation in a square well
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| throw.py
| Calculate a trajectory using the shooting method
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Chapter 9: Partial differential equations
| laplace.py
| Solve Laplace's equation using the Jacobi method
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| neumann.py
| Solve the heat equation with Neumann (fixed gradient) boundary conditions
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| heat.py
| Solve the heat equation using FTCS
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Chapter 10: Random processes and Monte Carlo methods
| decay.py
| Calculate the decay of a radioactive sample
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| gengauss.py
| Monte Carlo integration using importance sampling and Gaussian random numbers
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| lcg.py
| Linear congruential random number generator
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| mcint.py
| Monte Carlo integration
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| mcsim.py
| Monte Carlo simulation of an ideal gas
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| rutherford.py
| Rutherford scattering
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| salesman.py
| Solution of the traveling salesman problem
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Chapter 11: Data science
| exokde.py
| Make a kernel density estimate of the distribution of exoplanet radii
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| exoplanets.py
| Make a histogram of exoplanet radii
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| hooke.py
| Fit a straight line to estimate a spring constant
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| isotopes.py
| Make a scatter plot of the atomic masses and atomic numbers of isotopes
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| sound.py
| Perform a quadratic fit to data for the speed of sound
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| exoplanets.txt
| Radii of known exoplanets
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| hooke.txt
| Data for Hooke's law example
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| isotopes.txt
| List of atomic isotopes
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| sound.txt
| Speed of sound at various temperatures
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Useful programs
| banded.py
| Solve a banded system of linear equations
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| colormaps.py
| Colormaps useful for physics visualizations
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| dcst.py
| Fast discrete cosine and sine transforms
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| gaussxw.py
| Calculate integration points for Gaussian quadrature
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| meshplot.py
| Make a density plot of data on a triangulated mesh
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| qdraw.py
| Functions for drawing and animating simple diagrams
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