Course Coordinator:
Kenji Doya
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Mathematical and Computational Sciences
Term:
1
Credits:
2
Prior Knowledge:
Assumes good knowledge of statistics and ability to look at biological problems in a mathematical way.
OIST courses to complete beforehand: B07 Statistical Methods
This course aims to provide common mathematical frameworks for adaptation at different scales and to link them with biological reality of control, learning, and evolution. We will look at different classes of adaptation problems using real-world examples of robot control, web searching, gene analysis, imaging, and visual receptive fields.
Course Coordinator:
Jonathan Miller
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Mathematical and Computational Sciences
Term:
2
Credits:
2
This course develops advanced mathematical techniques for application in the natural sciences. Particular emphasis will be placed on analytical and numerical, exact and approximate methods, for calculation of physical quantities. Examples and applications will be drawn from a variety of fields. The course will stress calculational approaches rather than rigorous proofs. There will be a heavy emphasis on analytic calculation skills, which will be developed via problem sets.
Course Coordinator:
Simone Pigolotti
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Mathematical and Computational Sciences
Term:
3
Credits:
2
Prior Knowledge:
• Basic calculus: students should be able to calculate integrals, know what a Fourier transform is, and solve simple differential equations.
• Basic probability theory: students should be familiar with basic concepts in probability theory, e.g. discrete and continuous distributions, random variables, conditional probabilities, mean and
variance, correlations. A resume will be made at the beginning of the course.
• Scientific programming: the students are expected to be already able to write, for example, a program to integrate a differential equation numerically via the Euler scheme and plot the results. Python is the standard language for the course. The students are required to install the Jupiter notebook system and bring their own laptop for the hands-on sessions.
This course will present a broad introduction to stochastic processes. The main focus will be on their application to a variety of modeling situations and on numerical simulations, rather than on the mathematical formalism. After a brief resume of the main concept in probability theory, we will explain what stochastic processes are and the concept of stochastic trajectory. We will then broadly classify stochastic processes (discrete/continuous time and space, Markov property, forward and backward dynamics).
Course Coordinator:
Satoshi Mitarai
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Marine Sciences
Term:
1
Credits:
2
This course introduces students to the fundamental laws that characterize fluids at rest and in motion. The equations for the conservation of mass, for momentum balance, and for conservation of energy are analyzed in control volume and, to some extent, in differential form. Students will learn to select appropriate models and solution procedures for a variety of problems. Flow phenomena that occur in actual flow situations are also illustrated, so that students will learn to assess the strengths and limitations of the models and methods.
Course Coordinator:
Síle Nic Chormaic
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Physics
Term:
2
Credits:
2
Review of geometrical optics; wave properties of light and the wave equation; Helmholtz equation; wave optics, including Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction, transfer functions, coherence, auto and cross-correlation; Gaussian and non-Gaussian beam profiles; quantum optics and photon statistics; spin squeezing; applications of optics including fiber optics, laser resonators, laser amplifiers, non-linear optics, and optical trapping; quantum properties of light; interaction of photons and atoms.
Course Coordinator:
Shinobu Hikami
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Physics
Term:
3
Credits:
2
Prior Knowledge:
A216, A217 Quantum Mechanics I and II
B11 Classical Electrodynamics
This course covers quantum electrodynamics and chromodynamics. Topics include canonical quantization, Feynman diagrams, spinors, gauge invariance, path integrals, identical particles and second quantization, ultraviolet and infrared divergences, renormalization and applications to the quantum theory of the weak and gravitational forces, spontaneous symmetry breaking and Goldstone bosons, chiral anomalies, effective field theory, non-Abelian gauge theories, the Higgs mechanism, and an introduction to the standard model, quantum chromodynamics and grand unification.
Course Coordinator:
Yabing Qi
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Physics
Term:
1
Credits:
2
A practical course to train students in the design and construction of analog electronic circuits, based on the classic text The Art of Electronics. Conceptual understanding of the key elements of analog circuits will be reinforced by significant project work in the electronics workshop.
Although very little device physics will be taught, the course provides sufficient theory to design and analyze analog electronic circuits, with extensive project work to enable students to become familiar with circuit construction.
Course Coordinator:
Mukhles Ibrahim Sowwan
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Physics
Term:
2
Credits:
2
This course covers the Nanotechnology revolution in science and engineering that is leading to novel ideas about the way materials, devices, and systems are designed, made and used in different applications. We cover the underlying principles of the multidisciplinary and very diverse field of nanotechnology, and introduce the concepts and scientific principles relevant at the nanometer scale. Then we provide a comprehensive discussion of the nanomaterials, including characterization techniques and the effect of size on their structural, physical, and chemical properties and stability.
Course Coordinator:
Fujie Tanaka
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Chemistry
Term:
2
Credits:
2
This course covers essential concepts and recent advances in the design and synthesis of functional molecules used for understanding and controlling biological systems. Topics of this course include design and synthesis of small organic molecules, organic reactions, methods for controlling reaction pathways, asymmetric synthesis, mechanisms of catalysis and molecular recognition, and creation of designer proteins and peptides.
Course Coordinator:
Keshav Dani
Course Type:
Elective
Course Category:
Physics
Term:
1
Credits:
2
This course will be an introductory graduate level course to initiate students into the techniques of ultrafast spectroscopy. They will be introduced to the basic concepts underlying sub-picosecond phenomena in nature (ultrafast chemical processes, femtosecond electron dynamics in materials, etc.) and the tools used to study such phenomena (pump-probe spectroscopy, Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy, etc.).
