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Mathematica

Mathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing. Mathematica seamlessly integrates a numeric and symbolic computational engine, graphics system, programming language, documentation system, and advanced connectivity to other applications.

Platform: Windows, Mac, UNIX/Linux, Mobile, Web
Cost: No charge (Access via App2Go Server)

App2Go Login

License Information

VCU participates in the statewide license for Mathematica, Mathematica Online and Wolfram AlphaPro from Wolfram Research Inc. The Wolfram applications, obtained under this VCU site license, may be used:

  • by VCU faculty, staff and students
  • for VCU related research and instruction
  • on University-owned computers
  • on personally owned computers


Mathematica, under the cross-platform license, provides an unlimited number of copies running at any time. The VCU Mathematica license agreement includes "Home Use" licenses for faculty and staff. Home-use licenses are restricted to a desktop computer or laptop owned by the employee. Home-use licenses are automatically registered to the individual who requests the license and may not be transferred to another individual. The Mathematica versions available for use under this site license include:

  • Mathematica for Windows 
  • Mathematica for Mac
  • Mathematica for Linux


Mathematica Online was added to the university site license in June 2018. All users must sign up for a Wolfram account and subscribe to Mathematica Online. You may access Mathematica Online from a desktop or mobile device using a Web browser or Mobile app.


Mathematica on App2Go is available for use without installing the application on your computer. Mathematica is accessed via a Web browser using a Windows, Mac or Linux computer from the App2Go Server. Five (5) concurrent user licenses of Mathematica are available for use by VCU researchers on the App2Go Server.

Mathematica for VCU Owned Computers

Mathematica is available to download and install on your computer for the supported formats. Mathematica licenses must be renewed annually to maintain an active application.

Download and install:

Faculty/staff may register and download Mathematica 11.3.0 and 11.2.0 for installation on University-owned workstations:

Renew license:

Faculty/staff may renew existing Mathematica licenses on University-owned computers through August 30, 2019:

If you have an older version of Mathematica, please upgrade to Mathematica 11.3.0, using the download links above. See also What's New in Mathematica 11 and Mathematica Revision History.

Mathematica Faculty/Staff Home-Use Licenses

Each individual approved for a home-use license is issued a unique license number and provided with a single-machine version of the product for the platform requested. Each home-use license must be renewed annually. After your VCU employment status is verified, Wolfram Research will provide you with a home-use license.

Request Mathematica home-use license & download from Wolfram 

1. Click the desired link below:

2. Provide the following information:

  • When prompted for an activation key, enter: L3065-4612
  • For proof of faculty/staff eligibility, select:

http://www.ts.vcu.edu/askit/web-tools/vcu-search/search-for-users/advanced-faculty--staff-search/

Mathematica for Students

To download or renew Mathematica for Students:

  1. Register your Mathematica for Students license with VCU.
  2. Follow the instructions provided in your VCU email Mathematica registration confirmation.

Mathematica Online

Mathematica Online allows you to browse, view, edit, and use interactive functions in your Mathematica notebook through the cloud. Providing instant access through the cloud enables the sharing of documents and resources. Mathematica Online may be accessed through a Web browser or mobile app.

 

How to access Mathematica Online

   Create and validate a Wolfram account (if you don't have one):

  1. Go to http://user.wolfram.com and click Create Account.

  2. Complete the form using your @vcu.edu email, and a secure password. VCU Information Security advises to NOT use your VCU account password.

  3. You will receive an email from Wolfram acknowledging the request. Click the link to validate your account.

   Complete a request for Mathematica Online account:

  1. Login to the Wolfram User Portal.

  2. Complete the Mathematica Online Subscription Request Form and Submit.

  3. Login to the Mathematica Online.

 

Where to find the Mobile App

Wolfram provides a cloud app to access Mathematica Online through the iOS and Android Mobile device. Go to the Apple Store and Google Play to download Wolfram Cloud.

 

Mathematica On the App2Go Citrix Server

Using a Windows, Mac or Linux computer, you are able to access Mathematica via a browser window. Although Mathematica runs on the App2Go Citrix® Server, it appears to be running on your PC. You can open, save and print files from your PC. Applications on the App2Go server are available to support research projects and are not intended for instructional use. Five (5) concurrent use licenses of Mathematica are available for use by VCU researchers on the App2Go Server.

Current VCU faculty, staff, and students may access Mathematica on the App2Go Server for research. Documentation on how to use of the App2Go Server will provide you details such as system requirements, installation, opening files, saving files and printing.

Mathematica Tutorials

The first two tutorials are excellent for new users and can be assigned to students as homework to learn Mathematica outside of class time.

  • Hands-on Start to Mathematica (videos)
    Follow along in Mathematica as you watch this multi-part screencast that teaches you the basics—how to create your first notebook, calculations, visualizations, interactive examples, and more.

  • Hands-on Start to Wolfram Mathematica and Programming with the Wolfram Language (book)
    Learn Mathematica at your own pace from authors with 50+ years of combined Mathematica experience—with hands-on examples, end-of-chapter exercises, and authors' tips that introduce you to the breadth of Mathematica with a focus on ease of use.

  • What's New in Mathematica 10
    Provides examples to help you get started with new functionality in Mathematica 10, including machine learning, computational geometry, geographic computation, and device connectivity.

  • How To Topics
    Access step-by-step instructions ranging from how to create animations to basic syntax information.

  • Learning Center
    Search Wolfram's large collection of materials for example calculations or tutorials in your field of interest.

 

Wolfram|Alpha Pro

  • Tour of Wolfram|Alpha
    New to Wolfram|Alpha? Take a tour to learn what you can do with Wolfram|Alpha, and explore additional features you get with Wolfram|Alpha Pro.

Teaching with Mathematica

Mathematica offers an interactive classroom experience that helps students explore and grasp concepts, plus gives faculty the tools they need to easily create supporting course materials, assignments, and presentations.

  • Mathematica for Teaching and Education—Free video course
    Learn how to make your classroom dynamic with interactive models, explore computation and visualization capabilities in Mathematica that make it useful for teaching practically any subject at any level, and get best-practice suggestions for course integration.

  • How To Create a Lecture Slideshow—Video tutorial
    Learn how to create a slideshow for a class that shows a mixture of graphics, calculations, and nicely formatted text, with live calculations or animations.

  • Wolfram Demonstrations Project
    Download pre-built, open-code examples from a daily-growing collection of interactive visualizations, spanning a remarkable range of topics.

  • Wolfram Training Education Courses
    Access on-demand and live courses on Mathematica, SystemModeler, and other Wolfram technologies.

Research with Mathematica

Rather than requiring different toolkits for different jobs, Mathematica integrates the world's largest collection of algorithms, high-performance computing capabilities, and a powerful visualization engine in one coherent system, making it ideal for academic research in just about any discipline.

  • Mathematica for University Research—Free video course
    Explore Mathematica's high-level and multi-paradigm programming language, support for parallel computing and GPU architectures, built-in functionality for specialized application areas, and multiple publishing and deployment options for sharing your work.

  • Utilizing HPC and Grid Computing—Free video course
    Learn how to create programs that take advantage of multicore machines or available clusters.

  • Field-Specific Applications
    Learn what areas of Mathematica are used for specific fields.

Other Training

Support

The vendor provides support for the use of Mathematica. Contact the IT Support Center if you have an issue with licensing or installation of Mathematica.


Sign Up for VCU MATHEMATICA-L LISTSERV

LISTSERV subscribers receive notifications of Mathematica upgrades and maintenance fixes, times to renew Mathematica licenses, Mathematica training opportunities, etc.

To subscribe to the VCU MATHEMATICA-L click on:

Note: Participation in this list is limited to VCU email accounts.