Physics 5413: Chaos, fractals, and nonlinear dynamics

Instructor:

Thomas Vojta, office: 109 Physics, email: vojtat@mst.edu

Home page:

http://thomasvojta.com/class_5413/class_5413.html

Class time:

12:00 – 12:50pm, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Room 127 Physics

Office hours:

Monday 3:00 to 4:00pm

Prerequisites:

Math 3304; Physics 2135

Textbooks:

“Chaos and nonlinear dynamics” by Robert C. Hilborn, Oxford University Press
“Nonlinear dynamics and chaos” by Steven H. Strogatz, Perseus

Projects:

The course is project based. In class, we will usually discuss the basic concepts of a particular topic. I will then assign projects which further explore the material, including applications to specific systems, computer simulations, and the analysis of research papers. Some of the projects will lead to student presentations and some will be team projects.

Discussions among colleagues are allowed and encouraged. However, the reports you hand in should be based on your efforts and not that of a group. For team projects, each team can submit a joint report, but you must explain who did what part of the work. You should document any reference material which you directly use.

AI Use:

You may use AI systems such as ChatGPT as tools to help you research, but you need to examine all information critically. AIs are known to hallucinate and give incorrect information. You are responsible for making sure the information you present in your assignment is correct, and you need to document all your sources, including AI systems. Having AI write your project report or presentation is not acceptable as it misses the learning objective of the assignments.

Grade:

Your grade will be based entirely on the projects. There will be seven regular projects worth 100 pts and a final project worth 200 pts. The lowest regular score will be dropped (the final score cannot be dropped). Thus, a total of 800 points can be earned.

The relation between performance and grade will be the standard one: $A\ge 90\%>B\ge 80\%>C\ge 70\%$. The boundaries between the grades may be revised downwards (i.e., to the students benefit) depending upon the judgement of the instructor, but will not be revised upwards.

Complaints:

It is hoped that any problems can be resolved through discussions between student and instructor. If there are any complaints that cannot be resolved you may contact Dr. Marco Cavaglia, Chair of the Physics Department (cavagliam@mst.edu).

Missouri S&T Campus and UM System Policies

Further university information and rules can be found on the webpage
https://go.mst.edu/academicresources