Physics & chemistry · Computer science
Computational Physics: A Practical Introduction to Computational Physics and Scientific Computing (using C++)
Konstantinos N. Anagnostopoulos
Konstantinos N. Anagnostopoulos and the National Technical University of Athens · Second edition, 2016; version 2.0.20161206201400 · English · Published 2016
Computational physics using C++, Unix tools and numerical methods, with simulations of classical and statistical physics.
- Learning stage
- Advanced college
- Prerequisites
- Undergraduate physics and calculus; programming experience is helpful.
- PDF pages
- 684 in this file
- Editorial review
- 2026-10-29
Contents
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Foreword to the Second Edition
Foreword to the First Edition
The Computer
The Computer
The Operating System
Text Processing Tools – Filters
Programming with Emacs
The C++ Programming Language
Gnuplot
Shell Scripting
Kinematics
Kinematics
Motion on the Plane
Motion in Space
Trapped in a Box
Applications
Problems
Logistic Map
Logistic Map
Introduction
Fixed Points and 2n Cycles
Bifurcation Diagrams
The Newton-Raphson Method
Calculation of the Bifurcation Points
Liapunov Exponents
Problems
Motion of a Particle
Motion of a Particle
Numerical Integration of Newton's Equations
Prelude: Euler Methods
Runge–Kutta Methods
Comparison of the Methods
The Forced Damped Oscillator
The Forced Damped Pendulum
Appendix: On the Euler–Verlet Method
Appendix: 2nd order Runge–Kutta Method
Problems
Planar Motion
Planar Motion
Runge–Kutta for Planar Motion
Projectile Motion
Planetary Motion
Scattering
More Particles
Problems
Motion in Space
Motion in Space
Adaptive Stepsize Control for RK Methods
Motion of a Particle in an EM Field
Relativistic Motion
Problems
Electrostatics
Electrostatics
Electrostatic Field of Point Charges
The Program – Appetizer and ... Desert
The Program – Main Dish
The Program - Conclusion
Electrostatic Field in the Vacuum
Results
Poisson Equation
Problems
Diffusion Equation
Diffusion Equation
Introduction
Heat Conduction in a Thin Rod
Discretization
The Program
Results
Diffusion on the Circle
Analysis
Problems
The Anharmonic Oscillator
The Anharmonic Oscillator
Introduction
Calculation of the Eigenvalues of Hnm()
Results
The Double Well Potential
Problems
Time Independent Schrödinger Equation
Time Independent Schrödinger Equation
Introduction
The Infinite Potential Well
Bound States
Measurements
The Anharmonic Oscillator - Again...
The Lennard–Jones Potential
Problems
The Random Walker
The Random Walker
(Pseudo)Random Numbers
Using Pseudorandom Number Generators
The MIXMAX Random Number Generator
Random Walks
Problems
Monte Carlo Simulations
Monte Carlo Simulations
Statistical Physics
Entropy
Fluctuations
Correlation Functions
Sampling
Markov Processes
Detailed Balance Condition
Problems
Simulation of the d=2 Ising Model
Simulation of the d=2 Ising Model
The Ising Model
Metropolis
Implementation
Thermalization
Autocorrelations
Statistical Errors
Appendix: Autocorrelation Function
Appendix: Error Analysis
Problems
Critical Exponents
Critical Exponents
Critical Slowing Down
Wolff Cluster Algorithm
Implementation
Production
Data Analysis
Autocorrelation Times
Temperature Scaling
Finite Size Scaling
Calculation of c
Studying Scaling with Collapse
Binder Cumulant
Appendix: Scaling
Appendix: Critical Exponents
Problems
Bibliography
Sources and permissions
The author and publisher remain the source of this textbook. Permission information applies to the specific files in this edition.
Author, publisher, and discovery sources
Authors: Konstantinos N. Anagnostopoulos
Publisher: Konstantinos N. Anagnostopoulos and the National Technical University of Athens
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-29
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-25
CC BY-SA 4.0
Computational Physics (using C++), second edition, version 2.0.20161206201400, Konstantinos N. Anagnostopoulos, copyright 2014 and 2016, National Technical University of Athens, CC BY-SA 4.0. Original cover credit including work with Mark J. Bowick retained; original PDF unchanged; no endorsement implied.
Changes: Original PDF bytes are unchanged. Catalog metadata and page viewing are supplied by iReadAll. No endorsement implied. Structured extraction, audio, translation and independent image redistribution are not approved.
Checked 2026-10-29