EIU Department of Physics

Computational Physics Research Group

Many problems in Physics are very complicated and difficult to solve. Sometimes it is better to use the power of computers to attack these problems. Numerical solutions to complex systems can yield results when closed form solutions fail. There are also systems where we might be able to calculate what one, two, or even three particles will do.

However, when we start talking about systems of 100, 1000, or even 1,000,000 particles then these calculations become completely unwieldy. Computers can track all of these particles and predict what they will do as a group. Research in Computational Physics at EIU falls into two categories, Nanostructures and Astrophysics. Students who major in the Computational Physics concentration are required to take research credit and these research groups should be considered as a great way to see the field and understand the range and strength of this approach.

• Nanoscience and Engineering
• Molecular Dynamics Simulation
• Astrophysics