Syllabus

Class: Physics 4267/6268, Nonlinear Dynamics & Chaos, Fall 2012

Instructor & TA

Instructor:

Prof. Daniel I. Goldman, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Office: Howey C202 (office hours: by email)
Phone: (404) 894-0993
E-mail: daniel.goldman@physics.gatech.edu

TA:

Chris Crowley
Office: Howey W301 (office hours TBD)
E-mail: chris.crowley@gatech.edu

Course Description

The course offers an introductory treatment of nonlinear dynamics and chaos, including first order ODE and their bifurcations, phase plane analysis, limit cycles, Lorenz equations, chaos, iterated maps, period doubling, fractals and strange attractors. Teams of students will also conduct one week of self-guided experiments in Prof. Goldman's laboratory and prepare final report/presentation of the results.

Time and Place

Tuesday, Thursday, 2-3:15PM

Physical space: Room N210, Howey (We will not be meeting here)

Virtual space: see BlueJeans link on Canvas

Homework and grading

Homework sets will be given every other week. Homework must be submitted at the start of class or it will be considered late.

Final Grades

Homework assignments will be posted on the web every Tuesday and will be due next Tuesday. You can discuss problems with each other, but the solutions have to be executed and submitted individually. In general you are expected to comply with the academic honor code. There will also be one midterm exam and a final. The overall grade for the course will be based on the homeworks (~30%), mid-term exam (~20%) and a final project (~50%).

Book

"Nonlinear Dyanamics & Chaos", Steven H. Strogatz (Westview Press, 2001)

"Pattern Formation and Dynamics in Nonequilibrium Systems", Cross & Greenside