Tentative plan for the event

Level 1:

Goal is to visualize and play around with familiar concepts in physics using the computer as a tool. Some ideas used in research based computational physics can be touched upon, but the topics are simple and exploration based, more reminiscent of physics-based game engines.

Sessions:

• (Euler integration) -> Simple pendulum
  • Progression: Add drag/damping forces; Add external driving; Try to observe resonance.
  • Explore: Higher order integration schemes
• (Euler integration, Primitive Collision detection) -> Billiard Balls
  • Progression: Create a Scene with bouncing balls under gravity; incorporate friction, energy losses upon bouncing, etc.
  • Explore: Event-driven approach (alternative to brute integration)
• (Velocity-Verlet integration (?), Intro/Necessity of symplectic solvers) -> n-body gravity
  • Progression: Write the code so it is extensible to add other properties; e.g. Electric charge.
  • Explore: Optimization schemes for large # of objects, Application in MolDyn.
• (Basic) -> Visualize electric field due to distribution of fixed point charges.
  • Progression: Given the functional values of electric field at a grid of coordinates, plot equipotential surfaces. (Marching Squares, contouring algorithm)
  • Explore: How to extend this for an arbitrary continuous charge distribution?
• (RK4 integration, maybe a bit of sympy) -> Double Pendulum
  • Progression: Extend to arbitrarily many pendula; Simulate an actual rope (which can get slack, unlike Simple Pendulum) by modelling it as a large collection of coupled pendula.
  • Explore: How to model rigid bodies with arbitrary constraints? (without hard-coding every such property)
• (Euler integration) -> Simple pendulum but with springs instead of rigid rods.
  • Progression: Extend to arbitrary number of objects and springs. Incorporate basic collision system to make primitive model of soft bodies.
  • Explore: NA
• (??) -> Visualize electric field due to accelerating point charge(s).

Projects/DIY:

• (Ray-tracing) -> 2D setup; light rays interacting with mirrors and lenses
  • Progression: NA
  • Explore: Extend to 3D.
• (??) -> Code a setup to specify and simulate arbitrary electric circuits to solve for current, voltage, etc. (in-house version of SPICE)
  • Progression: NA
  • Explore: NA

Level 2:

TBA.