Physics of Oscillations and Waves: With use of Matlab and Python (Undergraduate Texts in Physics)

In this textbook a combination of standard mathematics and modern numerical methods is used to describe a wide range of natural wave phenomena, such as sound, light and water waves, particularly in specific popular contexts, e.g. colors or the acoustics of musical instruments. It introduces the reader to the basic physical principles that allow the description of the oscillatory motion of matter and classical fields, as well as resulting concepts including interference, diffraction, and coherence. Numerical methods offer new scientific insights and make it possible to handle interesting cases that can’t readily be addressed using analytical mathematics; this holds true not only for problem solving but also for the description of phenomena. Essential physical parameters are brought more into focus, rather than concentrating on the details of which mathematical trick should be used to obtain a certain solution. Readers will learn how time-resolved frequency analysis offers a deeper understanding of the interplay between frequency and time, which is relevant to many phenomena involving oscillations and waves. Attention is also drawn to common misconceptions resulting from uncritical use of the Fourier transform. The book offers an ideal guide for upper-level undergraduate physics students and will also benefit physics instructors. Program codes in Matlab and Python, together with interesting files for use in the problems, are provided as free supplementary material.

Arnt Inge Vistnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway, which holds a unique position in the use of numerical methods within physics education. Dr. Vistnes was the first in the department to start using numerical methods on basic physics bachelor courses, in 1997, and accordingly has long experience in the ways in which numerical methods can im­prove understanding of physics. He has an excellent reputation for his teaching ability and has won several prizes for good teaching. Dr. Vistnes first wrote Oscillation and Wave Physics in Norwegian to meet the need for a textbook suitable for fourth semester physics bachelor students. He has subsequently improved and added to the text and is personally responsible for most of the more than 250 illustrations in the book.