Introduction to Finite Differences
and
Spring 2021
Finite Elements in the Geosciences
Instructors:
More Information:
Over the last
several decades, computing has played an
increasingly important role in the earth sciences. This trend has developed
along with the rapid increase in computational power
available to scientists, as well as the increasing
availability of numerical codes that can be used to
solve problems. However, to use these numerical
codes effectively, scientists must have a basic
understanding of how these codes work. This class
will introduce students to basic numerical
approaches to solving problems in the earth
sciences. We will focus primarily on finite
difference and finite element methods. Example
problems will be insprired by
the solid earth geopysics, but will be general enough
that the understanding gained from this class can
be used in broader fields of the earth sciences.
Required Texts:
Recommended Texts:
Class Meetings:
Homework: To catch up to speed on programming in Python, we
will read the first several chapters of Sundnes (2020) and/or Linge and
Langtangen (2020). Please tell us which book you find more useful
for this introduction.