This work is a needed reference for widely used techniques and methods of computer simulation in physics and other disciplines, such as materials science. Molecular dynamics computes a molecule's reactions and dynamics based on physical models; Monte Carlo uses random numbers to image a system's behaviour when there are different possible outcomes with related probabilities. The work conveys both the theoretical foundations as well as applications and "tricks of the trade", that often are scattered across various papers. Thus it will meet a need and fill a gap for every scientist who needs computer simulations for his/her task at hand. In addition to being a reference, case studies and exercises for use as course reading are included.

This monograph introduces the basic concepts of the theory of causal fermion systems, a recent approach to the description of fundamental physics. The theory yields quantum mechanics, general relativity and quantum field theory as limiting cases and is therefore a candidate for a unified physical theory. From the mathematical perspective, causal fermion systems provide a general framework for describing and analyzing non-smooth geometries and "quantum geometries". The dynamics is described by a novel variational principle, called the causal action principle. In addition to the basics, the book provides all the necessary mathematical background and explains how the causal action principle gives rise to the interactions of the standard model plus gravity on the level of second-quantized fermionic fields coupled to classical bosonic fields. The focus is on getting a mathematically sound connection between causal fermion systems and physical systems in Minkowski space. The book is intended for graduate students entering the field, and is furthermore a valuable reference work for researchers in quantum field theory and quantum gravity.

The operation of everything in the universe needs a special "material"-energy. The earth is no exception. There are many kinds of energy sources on earth. But where does the earth's energy come from? The answer is that everything grows under the sun. Developing renewable energy is of strategic importance to achieve sustainable energy supply. Simulating natural photosynthesis is the ultimate goal of effi cient solar energy conversion. Photovoltaic technology has been widely used in industry and will be one of the major energy sources in the future. Developing new materials and structures, the photoelectric conversion effi ciency of solar cells will be improved day by day, and solar cells will attract more and more attention. This book presents principles of solar photovoltaic conversion, and introduces the physical and chemical processes involved. Mechanisms which affect solar cell performance are also discussed.

How did the universe begin and how will it end?
What is matter?
What is mind, and can it survive death?
What are time and space, and how do they relate to ideas about God?
Is the order of the universe the result of accident or design?

The most profound and age-old questions of existence -- for centuries the focus of religion and philosophy -- may soon be answered through the extraordinary advances of a field of science known as the new physics. In this illuminating work, Paul Davies, author of the acclaimed Other Worlds and The Edge of Infinity, writes that the discoveries of 20th-century physics -- relativity and the quantum theory -- are now pointing the way to a new appreciation of man and his place in the universe. They could, in fact, bring within our grasp a unified description of all creation. Demanding a radical reformulation of the most fundamental aspects of reality and a way of thinking that is in closer accord with mysticism than materialism, the new physics, says Davies, offers a surer path to God than religion.

Described by The Washington Post as "impressive," God and the New Physics is a fascinating look at the impact of science on what were formerly religious issues. Elegantly written, a book for both scholars and lay readers of science, it is, according to the Christian Science Monitor, a "provocative...rewarding intellectual romp."

"Networks of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders" is a mathematically rigorous and data rich book on a fascinating area of the science and engineering of social webs. There are hundreds of complex network phenomena whose statistical properties are described by inverse power laws. The phenomena of interest are not arcane events that we encounter only fleetingly, but are events that dominate our lives. We examine how this intermittent statistical behavior intertwines itself with what appears to be the organized activity of social groups. The book is structured as answers to a sequence of questions such as: How are decisions reached in elections and boardrooms? How is the stability of a society undermined by zealots and committed minorities and how is that stability re-established? Can we learn to answer such questions about human behavior by studying the way flocks of birds retain their formation when eluding a predator? These questions and others are answered using a generic model of a complex dynamic network one whose global behavior is determined by a symmetric interaction among individuals based on social imitation. The complexity of the network is manifest in time series resulting from self-organized critical dynamics that have divergent first and second moments, are non-stationary, non-ergodic and non-Poisson. How phase transitions in the network dynamics influence such activity as decision making is a fascinating story and provides a context for introducing many of the mathematical ideas necessary for understanding complex networks in general. The decision making model (DMM) is selected to emphasize that there are features of complex webs that supersede specific mechanisms and need to be understood from a general perspective. This insightful overview of recent tools and their uses may serve as an introduction and curriculum guide in related courses."

This book contains the results in numerical analysis and optimization presented at the ECCOMAS thematic conference "Computational Analysis and Optimization" (CAO 2011) held in Jyvaskyla, Finland, June 9-11, 2011. Both the conference and this volume are dedicated to Professor Pekka Neittaanmaki on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. It consists of five parts that are closely related to his scientific activities and interests: Numerical Methods for Nonlinear Problems; Reliable Methods for Computer Simulation; Analysis of Noised and Uncertain Data; Optimization Methods; Mathematical Models Generated by Modern Technological Problems. The book also includes a short biography of Professor Neittaanmaki.

The importance of accuracy verification methods was understood at the very beginning of the development of numerical analysis. Recent decades have seen a rapid growth of results related to adaptive numerical methods and a posteriori estimates. However, in this important area there often exists a noticeable gap between mathematicians creating the theory and researchers developing applied algorithms that could be used in engineering and scientific computations for guaranteed and efficient error control.

The goals of the book are to (1) give a transparent explanation of the underlying mathematical theory in a style accessible not only to advanced numerical analysts but also to engineers and students; (2) present detailed step-by-step algorithms that follow from a theory; (3) discuss their advantages and drawbacks, areas of applicability, give recommendations and examples.

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This book offers a comprehensive treatment of nonlocal elasticity theory as applied to the prediction of the mechanical characteristics of various types of biological and non-biological nanoscopic structures with different morphologies and functional behaviour. It combines fundamental notions and advanced concepts, covering both the theory of nonlocal elasticity and the mechanics of nanoscopic structures and systems. By reporting on recent findings and discussing future challenges, the book seeks to foster the application of nonlocal elasticity based approaches to the emerging fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. It is a self-contained guide, and covers all relevant background information, the requisite mathematical and computational techniques, theoretical assumptions, physical methods and possible limitations of the nonlocal approach, including some practical applications. Mainly written for researchers in the fields of physics, biophysics, mechanics, and nanoscience, as well as computational engineers, the book can also be used as a reference guide for senior undergraduate and graduate students, as well as practicing engineers working in a range of areas, such as computational condensed matter physics, computational materials science, computational nanoscience and nanotechnology, and nanomechanics.

This book offers a timely report on methods for risk assessment procedures for dams, with a special emphasis on dams with small storage dimensions. It starts by introducing all important definitions relating to dams, dam safety, such as the most common failure modes, and risks. In turn, it describes in detail the most important evaluation procedures for various failure modes such as piping, flood, earthquake and stability are described in this chapter. Consequence assessment procedures, together with the different steps of the risk evaluation process, are analyzed, providing a guide on how to identify the appropriate failure mode for the examined dam and setting up the appropriate safety plan. The book introduces the most common methods for predicting peak breach discharge, analyzing some relevant case studies. Upon comparing the findings obtained with the different methods, the book concludes with some general suggestions and ideas for future developments. This book fills an important gap between theoretical works and real-life problems being investigating in practical research studies on dam safety and risk management. It provides readers with the necessary knowledge on risk analysis and shows how to apply this in practice to carry out dam safety studies. It offers practical guidelines to set up risk assessment procedures for different failure modes and predicting failure parameters such as failure time, peak breach discharge and breach width.

Translated from the original French and annotated with figures, historical maps and commentary from the translators, this work is Jean-Charles Houzeau's account of his escape from Texas during the American Civil War. Houzeau was a Belgian astronomer who worked a couple of years as assistant astronomer at the Brussels Observatory, but eventually moved to the United States. He was living as a frontierman in Texas when the Civil War broke out, and because he took an abolitionist stance and helped slaves escape, he was forced to flee to Mexico, from where he sailed to New Orleans on board of a US military vessel. Originally titled La terreur blanche au Texas et mon 'evasion, Houzeau captured the details of his escape in 1862.The editors, an astronomer and a French language teacher, have added supplementary material to give the readers more depth and historical context to the story.

This volume gathers contributions reflecting topics presented during an INDAM workshop held in Rome in May 2016. The event brought together many prominent researchers in both Mathematical Analysis and Numerical Computing, the goal being to promote interdisciplinary collaborations. Accordingly, the following thematic areas were developed: 1. Lagrangian discretizations and wavefront tracking for synchronization models; 2. Astrophysics computations and post-Newtonian approximations; 3. Hyperbolic balance laws and corrugated isometric embeddings; 4. "Caseology" techniques for kinetic equations; 5. Tentative computations of compressible non-standard solutions; 6. Entropy dissipation, convergence rates and inverse design issues. Most of the articles are presented in a self-contained manner; some highlight new achievements, while others offer snapshots of the "state of the art" in certain fields. The book offers a unique resource, both for young researchers looking to quickly enter a given area of application, and for more experienced ones seeking comprehensive overviews and extensive bibliographic references.

Physicists are very smart people. Still, when it comes to moving their ideas from university to market, they often lack the basic set of know-hows that could help them succeed in the technology transfer process. To fill this gap, Entrepreneurship for Physicists: A Practical Guide to Move Ideas from University to Market offers a concise analysis of the key ingredients that enable entrepreneurs to bring added value to their customers. After a short discussion on why university physicists should pay more attention to this aspect of their professional life, the book dives into a set of theories, models, and tools that could help an academic scientist transform an idea into customer added value. The reader will be introduced to effectuation theory, internal resource analysis, external landscape analysis, value capture, lean startup method, business canvases, financial projections, and to a series of topics that, albeit often neglected, do play a fundamental role in technology transfer, such as trust, communication, and persuasion. In the last chapter, the book explains howmost of the concepts discussed actually find application in the career of scientists in a much broader sense.

Science used to be experiments and theory, now it is experiments, theory and computations. The computational approach to understanding nature and technology is currently flowering in many fields such as physics, geophysics, astrophysics, chemistry, biology, and most engineering disciplines. This book is a gentle introduction to such computational methods where the techniques are explained through examples. It is our goal to teach principles and ideas that carry over from field to field. You will learn basic methods and how to implement them. In order to gain the most from this text, you will need prior knowledge of calculus, basic linear algebra and elementary programming.

This set of three volumes aims to describe the recent progress in nonlinear differential equations and nonlinear dynamical systems (both continuous and discrete). Written by experts, each chapter is self-contained and aims to clearly illustrate some of the mathematical theories of nonlinear systems. These volumes should be suitable for graduate and postgraduate students in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering sciences, as well as for researchers (both pure and applied) interested in nonlinear systems. The common theme throughout all the volumes is on solvable and integrable nonlinear systems of equations and methods/theories that can be applied to analyze those systems. Some applications are also discussed. Features Clearly illustrates the mathematical theories of nonlinear systems and their progress to both the non-expert and active researchers in this area. Suitable for graduate students in mathematics, applied mathematics and some of the engineering sciences. Written in a careful pedagogical manner by those experts who have been involved in the research themselves, with each contribution being reasonably self-contained.

In the field of organic semiconductors researchers and manufacturers are faced with a wide range of potential molecules. This work presents concepts for simulation-based predictions of material characteristics starting from chemical stuctures. The focus lies on charge transport - be it in microscopic models of amorphous morphologies, lattice models or large-scale device models. An extensive introductory review, which also includes experimental techniques, makes this work interesting for a broad readership. Contents: Organic Semiconductor Devices Experimental Techniques Charge Dynamics at Dierent Scales Computational Methods Energetics and Dispersive Transport Correlated Energetic Landscapes Microscopic, Stochastic and Device Simulations Parametrization of Lattice Models Drift-Diusion with Microscopic Link

Network Science is the emerging field concerned with the study of large, realistic networks. This interdisciplinary endeavor, focusing on the patterns of interactions that arise between individual components of natural and engineered systems, has been applied to data sets from activities as diverse as high-throughput biological experiments, online trading information, smart-meter utility supplies, and pervasive telecommunications and surveillance technologies. This unique text/reference provides a fascinating insight into the state of the art in network science, highlighting the commonality across very different areas of application and the ways in which each area can be advanced by injecting ideas and techniques from another. The book includes contributions from an international selection of experts, providing viewpoints from a broad range of disciplines. It emphasizes networks that arise in nature-such as food webs, protein interactions, gene expression, and neural connections-and in technology-such as finance, airline transport, urban development and global trade. Topics and Features: begins with a clear overview chapter to introduce this interdisciplinary field; discusses the classic network science of fixed connectivity structures, including empirical studies, mathematical models and computational algorithms; examines time-dependent processes that take place over networks, covering topics such as synchronisation, and message passing algorithms; investigates time-evolving networks, such as the World Wide Web and shifts in topological properties (connectivity, spectrum, percolation); explores applications of complex networks in the physical and engineering sciences, looking ahead to new developments in the field. Researchers and professionals from disciplines as varied as computer science, mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, neuroscience, epidemiology, and the social sciences will all benefit from this topical and broad overview of current activities and grand challenges in the unfolding field of network science.

This monograph tackles three challenges. First, show a mathematics-based meta-model that matches known elementary particles. Second, apply models, based on the meta-model, to match other known physics data. Third, predict future physics data. The math features solutions to isotropic pairs of isotropic quantum harmonic oscillators. This monograph matches some solutions to known elementary particles. Matched properties include spin, types of interactions in which the particles partake, and (for elementary bosons) approximate masses. Other solutions point to possible elementary particles. This monograph applies the models and the extended particle list. Results narrow gaps between physics data and theory. Results pertain to elementary particles, astrophysics, and cosmology. For example, this monograph predicts properties for beyond-the-Standard-Model elementary particles, proposes descriptions of dark matter and dark energy, provides new relationships between known physics constants (including masses of some elementary particles), includes theory that dovetails with the ratio of dark matter to ordinary matter, includes math that dovetails with the number of elementary-fermion generations, suggests forces that govern the rate of expansion of the universe, and suggests additions to and details for the cosmology timeline.

This is the first book presenting dynamic responses and failure of polymer composite structures as they interact with internal and/or external fluid media. It summarizes authoritative research carried out by the author in the past decade on various aspects of Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) to present important effects of FSI on composite structures. The topics include impact loading on composite structures with air-back, water-back, or containing water; FSI effects on frequencies, mode shapes, and modal curvatures; cyclic loading for fatigue failure with FSI; coupling of independent composite structures by fluid media; and moving composite structures in water. Numerical techniques for FSI are also presented. Research was conducted both experimentally and numerically to complement each other. The book offers a timely, comprehensive information to fluid-structure interaction of composite structures for students, researchers or practicing engineers.