Название: Learn Physics with Functional Programming: A Hands-on Guide to Exploring Physics with Haskell
Автор: Scott N. Walck
Издательство: No Starch Press
Год: 2023
Страниц: 648
Язык: английский
Формат: epub
Размер: 10.1 MB

This book teaches you to solve physics problems using the functional programming paradigm. Ideal for first-time programmers and science aficionados alike, it introduces the Haskell programming language and encourages the writing of beautiful code to match the elegant ideas of theoretical physics.

Early chapters cover the basics of coding in Haskell, which has a powerful system of types capable of encoding important mathematical structures in physics, like vectors, derivatives, integrals, scalar fields, vector fields, and differential equations. Later sections of the book explore Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetics—two central pillars of theoretical physics. In addition, you’ll get a deep look into source code, and discover why Haskell’s high-order functions and referential transparency serve physics so well.

Along the way, you’ll learn:

•How to write beautiful code that expresses fundamental physical principles
•How to make graphs and animations of interesting situations
•How to program in a language that looks like mathematics
•How types, high order functions, and referential transparency serve physics well

Who This Book Is For:
This book arises from a course in computational physics I teach to second-year students of physics at Lebanon Valley College. I expect that you have had one year of introductory physics and at least one semester of calculus. No previous programming experience is required. The purpose of the book is to deepen your understanding of basic physics by exploring it in a new language. By using a formal language to express the ideas of physics, we will stretch our ability to formulate and communicate the ideas of physics as we also calculate quantities we are interested in and make graphs and animations.

Because the book begins with a self-contained introduction to the Haskell programming language for people who have not programmed before, it can be used as a supplement for introductory and intermediate courses in physics in which the instructor or student
• wishes to include a computational component, or
• desires a deeper understanding of the structure of basic physical theories.

The book is also appropriate for self-study by any student who wishes to deepen their understanding of physics by programming.