Physics 429: Introduction to Nonlinear Dynamics

SUNY Cortland

Fall 2017

• Instructor
  • Dr. Douglas Armstead
  • Bowers 127
  • 607 753-2919 or x2919
  • douglas.armstead@cortland.edu
  
  
• Meeting
  • Bowers 139
  • Day: Monday and Wednesday
  • Time: 11:30-12:20
  • Course Syllabus
  
  
• Text
  • Title: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
  • Author: Steven Strogatz
  • Edition: 2nd
  • ISBN: 978-0-8133-4910-7
  
  

• Homework


• Course Supplementals

  Demonstrations

  • A paper about dripping faucets.
  • Video of a primitive water wheel that exhibits chaos (and follows Lorenz's equations)
  • Video of a circuit implimentation of a van Der Pol oscillator.

    Simulation software

  • vPython is a useful tool for both integrating and visualizing systems. vPython is built on python 2.7.x. Follow the download link on the left-hand side of the page to install the proper version of python 2 and vPython.
  • Desmos is a useful online resource for graphing functions. Note that f(x) can be composed once defined and that f'(x) is df/dx.
  • GeoGebra's cobweb plotter is useful for exploring dynamicss on maps [i.e., x_n+1=f(x_n)].