Learn Physics With Functional Programming: A Ha... Apr 2026

A physical state (position, velocity) can be defined as a immutable record. Laws as Functions: Newton’s Second Law (

Physics is the study of invariants and transformations. In the traditional computational physics curriculum, students often use languages like C++ or Python. While effective for performance, these languages allow for "side effects" that do not exist in pure mathematical physics. Functional programming, by contrast, treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions, making it a natural fit for the laws of physics. 2. The Correspondence Principle Learn Physics with Functional Programming: A Ha...

Traditional physics education often relies on imperative programming or manual calculus, which can obscure the underlying symmetries and laws of nature. This paper proposes a functional programming (FP) approach—specifically using Haskell—to model physical systems. By leveraging strong typing, immutability, and higher-order functions, students can map mathematical equations directly to executable code, fostering a deeper conceptual understanding of mechanics and field theory. 1. Introduction A physical state (position, velocity) can be defined

One of the most powerful features of FP in physics is . By using dimensional analysis within the type system, we can prevent "unit errors" at compile time. For example, a compiler can be configured to throw an error if a student attempts to add a Mass type to a Length type. While effective for performance, these languages allow for