Computer
Programs

Mathematics 580 - Mathematical Ecology

Computer Programs

The following computer programs may be helpful in this course.

Mathematica - A symbolic computing environment that can greatly simplify calculations.
- Spatial Steady States Mathematica Notebook
PPLANE is a program written by John Polking that draws phase planes and numerical solutions. You can find a online java version at http://math.rice.edu/~dfield/dfpp.html. You must have a web browser that supports Java 1.1.6. If you have MATLAB you can download the original MATLAB version.
KSS Problem Numerical Solver
Integro-difference Equations Mathematica Notebook.
LaTeX - is the typesetting environment used for almost all modern mathematical publications, and it is the software you will use to type your final project. It is installed on the Linux side of the computers in the math practicum and in BSS 313 and versions are freely available for most any operating system. A great place to start learning about LaTeX is the The LaTeX Wikibook.

The MATLAB versions of the programs dfield and pplane are described in some detail in the manual Ordinary Differential Equations using MATLAB by John Polking and David Arnold. The java versions are modelled after the MATLAB versions, so the descriptions in the Manual should suffice to explain the use of the java versions. The Manual is published by Prentice Hall.
Several textbooks on differential equations refer to and use dfield and pplane. Among them are Differential Equations and Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems by John Polking, Albert Boggess, and David Arnold. They are published by Prentice Hall.