THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2018/2019

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Earth Science

Undergraduate Course: Mathematical and computational methods in Geophysics (EASC09054)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course introduces and develops mathematical and computational techniques commonly used in geophysics. The mathematics and computing are taught in an integrated manner so, for example, methods for finding an analytical solution to a differential equation are followed immediately by computing techniques for achieving the same aim.
Course description In this course, you will learn a range of core mathematical and computational methods that form the basis for future courses.

1. Solve a variety of mathematical problems as applied in a geophysical context
2. Learn the basis about coding in Python
3. Break scientific problems down into computationally tractable programs
4. Write clear, working, well documented programs in Python
5. Solve ordinary and partial differential equations using numerical techniques
6. Understand the basis of Monte Carlo methods

The learning experience will be varied, mixing practical programming classes with traditional lectures and problem-solving tutorials. Where practical, we will reinforce the ideas from the mathematical methods within the computational classes.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Physics of the Earth (EASC08016) AND ( Algebra and Calculus (PHYS08041) OR Linear Algebra and Several Variable Calculus (PHYS08042))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Mathematics including partial differentiation and differential equations.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesMathematics including partial differentiation and differential equations.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2018/19, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 18, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 30, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 134 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %

Coursework 50%, exam 50%. The exam will test the mathematical skills more than the computational ones, the coursework will do the reverse. Assessed Coursework will consist of one computing exercise (30% of course) and one set of mathematics problems (20% of course) One further set of maths problems and one further computing exercises will be marked for formative purposes. Completion of online Codecademy exercises is compulsory.

Formative Computation: Deadline Week 8
Assessed Computation: Deadline Week 11
Formative Mathematics: Deadline Week 6
Assessed Mathematics: Deadline Week 9

For more information regarding deadlines, please refer to the learn page.

Feedback Mathematical problems will be set every week, discussed in the tutorial and answers provided thereafter. The computation sessions will be run as interactive coding classes which encourage discussion and exploration of individual problems. In addition to the assessed coursework, one further set of maths problems and one further computing exercises will be marked for formative purposes.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)2:30
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Solve a variety of mathematical problems as applied in a geophysical context
  2. Write clear, working, well documented programs in Python
  3. Solve ordinary and partial differential equations using numerical techniques
  4. Understand the basis of Monte Carlo methods
Reading List
Sneider, R., Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences, 2004, Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 978-0-521-83492-6.
Turcotte, D.,L. and Schubert, G. Geodynamics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-66624-4.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Programming in a high-level computing language (Python)
KeywordsMathematics,geophysics,heat flow,programming,python
Contacts
Course organiserDr Mark Naylor
Tel: (0131 6)50 4918
Email: Mark.Naylor@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Ashley Stein
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: v1astei5@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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