Enriching Physics Education with Computational Physics Research

The inclusion of research into a student's education - even at the undergraduate level - is one of the hallmarks of a high quality education. Computational physics encompasses a variety of topics, tools, and modes of thinking that may well enliven, enrich, and expand a physics curriculum that the author views as becoming narrower and more self-absorbed. This talk will survey some current research topics in computational physics in which important progress has been made (recipients of prizes or highlighted by learned organizations), as well as topics, such as fluid dynamics and molecular dynamics, that are of current importance yet seem to have fallen out of the standard physics curriculum. In addition to the research topics proper, examples will be given of the research tools and background subjects required for this research, as well as some modern views on computational thinking.