MLA 31500

Natural Sciences Elective

Order and Chaos in the Natural World

Spring Quarter 2008

General Information and Schedule

January 25, 2008

Instructor: Peter O. Vandervoort

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The University of Chicago

5640 South Ellis Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60637

(773) 702-8209 (Office)

(773) 752-8374 (Home)

Internet: voort@oddjob.uchicago.edu

Readings: The main texts are

Stewart, Ian, Does God Play Dice? The New Mathematics of Chaos (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.), 2002. (ISBN 0-631-23251-6),

Lorenz, Edward N., The Essence of Chaos (Seattle: University of Washington Press), 1995. (ISBN 0-295-97514-8),

and

Ruelle, David, Chance and Chaos (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 1991. (ISBN0-691-08574-9).

Course Requirements: Two brief papers will be assigned during the quarter. The first is tentatively due on May 3, 2008, and the second on June 14, 2008. Grades will be based mainly on the papers. However, participation in class discussions will also be considered in the determination of final grades. In order to receive a grade in the course, a student must attend at least eight class meetings. If a student’s absence more than twice is unavoidable, then at least one make-up meeting will be arranged.

Schedule: Regular class meetings are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Saturdays, March 29, through June 14, 2008, at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center. The class will not meet on Saturday, May 31 or Saturday, June 7.

Course Web Page: A Web Page for MLA31500 is maintained at the URL <http://astro.uchicago.edu/~voort/pov.html>. Handouts and class notes will be posted there, and links to other useful web pages will be provided.

Tentative Schedule of Topics and Readings:

FIRST MEETING: March 29, 2008

SUBJECT: Determinism in Classical Physics.

READINGS: Stewart, chapters 1 & 2; Ruelle, chapters 1, 2 & 5.

SECOND MEETING: April 5, 2008

SUBJECT: Fate of the Solar System; Phase Space Methods in Dynamics.

READINGS: Stewart, chapters 4 & 5.

THIRD MEETING: April 12, 2008

SUBJECT: Chaos and the Fates of Dynamical Systems.

READINGS: Stewart, chapters 6 & 8.

FOURTH MEETING: April 19, 2008

SUBJECT: What Can Pinball Machines and Snow Boards Teach Us About Chaotic Behavior?

READINGS: Lorenz, chapters 1 & 2.

FIFTH MEETING: April 26, 2008

SUBJECT: Predicting the Weather

READINGS: Stewart, chapter 7; Lorenz, chapter 3.

SIXTH MEETING: May 3, 2008 (First writing assignment due.)

SUBJECT: Turbulence; The Road to Chaos.

READINGS: Stewart, chapter 9; Lorenz, chapter 4; Ruelle chapters 7, 8, 9 & 10.

SEVENTH MEETING: May 10, 2008

SUBJECT: From the Logistic Map to Universality.

READINGS: Stewart, chapter 10; Ruelle, chapters 11 & 12.

EIGHTH MEETING: May 17, 2008

SUBJECT: Fractal Geometry in the Natural World; Chaos and the Shapes of Natural Objects.

READINGS: Stewart, chapter 11; Lorenz, chapter 5.

NINTH MEETING: May 24, 2008

SUBJECT: Chaos in the Natural World

READINGS: Stewart, chapters 12 & 13.

NO MEETING May 31 or June 7.

TENTH MEETING: June 14, 2008 (Second writing assignment due.)

SUBJECT: Review and Conclusion

READINGS: Stewart, chapters 14 & 15.

LINKS:

Return to Course Page: mla315spring2008.htm

Return to Peter Vandervoort's Home Page: pov.html

Go to the home page of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

of the University of Chicago: http://astro.uchicago.edu/