  In this self-contained document, we aim to present the basic theoretical
building blocks to understand modeling of stellarator magnetic fields, some of
the challenges associated with modeling, and optimization for designing
stellarators. As often as possible, the ideas will be presented using equations
and pictures, and references to other relevant introductory material will be
included. This document is accessible to those who may not have a physics
background but are interested in applications of mathematical and computational
tools to stellarator research.
