Upper-division student difficulties with separation of variables

Separation of variables can be a powerful technique for solving many of the partial differential equations that arise in physics contexts. Upper-division physics students encounter this technique in multiple topical areas including electrostatics and quantum mechanics. To better understand the diffi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bethany R. Wilcox, Steven J. Pollock
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2015-11-01
Series:Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020131