This is an introductory mini-project, like a homework problem, designed to introduce you to the type of scientific computing we do in the FLOW Lab and to the Julia programming language. A student with prior experience in programming can likely complete this task within a week or two, whereas a freshmen may need a semester or two to go through programming tutorials and learn some of the concepts.
As a preview here's an animation of the simulation you'll complete (except that yours will be in two-dimensions).
This project is intentionally open ended. We provide a question as well as some links to helpful tutorials, but other than that, you'll have to use and/or develop some self-learning skills. That being said, if you've taken our interest survey, then you will be assigned a graduate mentor that you can ask questions when you get stuck. We strongly encourage you, especially if you haven't yet taken any coding/numerical methods classes, to ask your graduate student mentor questions as you go, since this will greatly speed up your progress.
At the end of the project, you should have the following deliverables to submit to your assigned graduate student mentor for review:
- CODE: Implement the leapfrogging vortices and plot the resulting trajectories. Make sure your plots are clear and easily understood. You are welcome to prototype in any programming language you want, but your final submission needs to be in Julia. If you are unfamiliar with Julia, we've put together some beginner coding activites that should be helpful.
- IMAGE: You should produce a plot (similar to the one at the end of the assignment description) showing your outputs.
- BONUS (not required): A static image of leapfrogging vortices isn't as fun. See if you can create an animation so that you can actually watch the movement in time. You might also like to draw a line between the vortex pairs to better visualize them as a connected ring.
If you'd like to start the project, this link will take you to the project description.
