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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Thermodynamics & statistical physics > Statistical physics
Computational fluid flow is not an easy subject. Not only is the
mathematical representation of physico-chemical hydrodynamics
complex, but the accurate numerical solution of the resulting
equations has challenged many numerate scientists and engineers
over the past two decades. The modelling of physical phenomena and
testing of new numerical schemes has been aided in the last 10
years or so by a number of basic fluid flow programs (MAC, TEACH,
2-E-FIX, GENMIX, etc). However, in 1981 a program (perhaps more
precisely, a software product) called PHOENICS was released that
was then (and still remains) arguably, the most powerful
computational tool in the whole area of endeavour surrounding fluid
dynamics. The aim of PHOENICS is to provide a framework for the
modelling of complex processes involving fluid flow, heat transfer
and chemical reactions. PHOENICS has now been is use for four years
by a wide range of users across the world. It was thus perceived as
useful to provide a forum for PHOENICS users to share their
experiences in trying to address a wide range of problems. So it
was that the First International PHOENICS Users Conference was
conceived and planned for September 1985. The location, at the
Dartford Campus of Thames Polytechnic, in the event, proved to be
an ideal site, encouraging substantial interaction between the
participants.
In the seven years since this volume first appeared. there has been
an enormous expansion of the range of problems to which Monte Carlo
computer simulation methods have been applied. This fact has
already led to the addition of a companion volume ("Applications of
the Monte Carlo Method in Statistical Physics", Topics in Current
Physics. Vol . 36), edited in 1984, to this book. But the field
continues to develop further; rapid progress is being made with
respect to the implementation of Monte Carlo algorithms, the
construction of special-purpose computers dedicated to exe cute
Monte Carlo programs, and new methods to analyze the "data"
generated by these programs. Brief descriptions of these and other
developments, together with numerous addi tional references, are
included in a new chapter , "Recent Trends in Monte Carlo
Simulations" , which has been written for this second edition.
Typographical correc tions have been made and fuller references
given where appropriate, but otherwise the layout and contents of
the other chapters are left unchanged. Thus this book, together
with its companion volume mentioned above, gives a fairly complete
and up to-date review of the field. It is hoped that the reduced
price of this paperback edition will make it accessible to a wide
range of scientists and students in the fields to which it is
relevant: theoretical phYSics and physical chemistry , con
densed-matter physics and materials science, computational physics
and applied mathematics, etc.
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The Mathematics and Physics of Disordered Media
- Percolation, Random Walk, Modeling,and Simulation. Proceedings of a Workshop held at the IMA, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, February 13-19, 1983
(Paperback, 1983 ed.)
B.D. Hughes, B.W. Ninham
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R1,661
Discovery Miles 16 610
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Ships in 18 - 22 working days
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This volume contains a selection of expository articles on quantum
field theory and statistical mechanics by James Glimm and Arthur
Jaffe. They include a solution of the original interacting quantum
field equations and a description of the physics which these
equations contain. Quantum fields were proposed in the late 1920s
as the natural framework which combines quantum theory with relativ
ity. They have survived ever since. The mathematical description
for quantum theory starts with a Hilbert space H of state vectors.
Quantum fields are linear operators on this space, which satisfy
nonlinear wave equations of fundamental physics, including coupled
Dirac, Max well and Yang-Mills equations. The field operators are
restricted to satisfy a "locality" requirement that they commute
(or anti-commute in the case of fer mions) at space-like separated
points. This condition is compatible with finite propagation speed,
and hence with special relativity. Asymptotically, these fields
converge for large time to linear fields describing free particles.
Using these ideas a scattering theory had been developed, based on
the existence of local quantum fields."
The equations which we are going to study in these notes were first
presented in 1963 by E. N. Lorenz. They define a three-dimensional
system of ordinary differential equations that depends on three
real positive parameters. As we vary the parameters, we change the
behaviour of the flow determined by the equations. For some
parameter values, numerically computed solutions of the equations
oscillate, apparently forever, in the pseudo-random way we now call
"chaotic"; this is the main reason for the immense amount of
interest generated by the equations in the eighteen years since
Lorenz first presented them. In addition, there are some parameter
values for which we see "preturbulence," a phenomenon in which
trajectories oscillate chaotically for long periods of time before
finally settling down to stable stationary or stable periodic
behaviour, others in which we see "intermittent chaos," where
trajectories alternate be tween chaotic and apparently stable
periodic behaviours, and yet others in which we see "noisy
periodicity," where trajectories appear chaotic though they stay
very close to a non-stable periodic orbit. Though the Lorenz
equations were not much studied in the years be tween 1963 and
1975, the number of man, woman, and computer hours spent on them in
recent years - since they came to the general attention of
mathematicians and other researchers - must be truly immense."
The first edition of this book was greeted with broad interest from
readers en gaged in various disciplines of biophysics. I received
many stimulating and en couraging responses, however, some of the
book's reviewers wanted to stress the fact that an extensive
literature of network theory was not included or reported in the
book. But the main aspect of the book is intended to be substantive
rather than methodical: networks simply serve as a remedy for doing
some first steps in analysing and modelling complex biological
systems. For an advanced stage in the investigation of a particular
system it may be appropriate to replace the pheno menological
network method by more detailed techniques like statistical
equations or computer simulations. According to this intention, the
second edition of the book has been enlarged by further biological
examples for network analysis, not by more network theory. There is
a completely new section on a network model for photoreception. For
this section I am obliged to J. Tiedge who did most of the detailed
calculation and to my colleague Professor Stieve with whom we have
had a very fruitful cooperation. Also I would like to mention that
this work has been sponsored by the "Deutsche Forschungsgemei
nschaft" i n the "Sonderforschungsberei ch 160." Recent results for
excitable systems represented by feedback networks have also been
included in the second edition, especially for limit cycle
networks."
This third edition expands on the original material. Large portions
of the text have been reviewed and clarified. More emphasis is
devoted to machine learning including more modern concepts and
examples. This book provides the reader with the main concepts and
tools needed to perform statistical analyses of experimental data,
in particular in the field of high-energy physics (HEP). It starts
with an introduction to probability theory and basic statistics,
mainly intended as a refresher from readers' advanced undergraduate
studies, but also to help them clearly distinguish between the
Frequentist and Bayesian approaches and interpretations in
subsequent applications. Following, the author discusses Monte
Carlo methods with emphasis on techniques like Markov Chain Monte
Carlo, and the combination of measurements, introducing the best
linear unbiased estimator. More advanced concepts and applications
are gradually presented, including unfolding and regularization
procedures, culminating in the chapter devoted to discoveries and
upper limits. The reader learns through many applications in HEP
where the hypothesis testing plays a major role and calculations of
look-elsewhere effect are also presented. Many worked-out examples
help newcomers to the field and graduate students alike understand
the pitfalls involved in applying theoretical concepts to actual
data.
This volume defends a novel approach to the philosophy of physics:
it is the first book devoted to a comparative study of probability,
causality, and propensity, and their various interrelations, within
the context of contemporary physics -- particularly quantum and
statistical physics. The philosophical debates and distinctions are
firmly grounded upon examples from actual physics, thus
exemplifying a robustly empiricist approach. The essays, by both
prominent scholars in the field and promising young researchers,
constitute a pioneer effort in bringing out the connections between
probabilistic, causal and dispositional aspects of the quantum
domain. The book will appeal to specialists in philosophy and
foundations of physics, philosophy of science in general,
metaphysics, ontology of physics theories, and philosophy of
probability.
Stochastic processes and diffusion theory are the mathematical
underpinnings of many scientific disciplines, including statistical
physics, physical chemistry, molecular biophysics, communications
theory and many more. Many books, reviews and research articles
have been published on this topic, from the purely mathematical to
the most practical.
This book offers an analytical approach to stochastic processes
that are most common in the physical and life sciences, as well as
in optimal control and in the theory of filltering of signals from
noisy measurements. Its aim is to make probability theory in
function space readily accessible to scientists trained in the
traditional methods of applied mathematics, such as integral,
ordinary, and partial differential equations and asymptotic
methods, rather than in probability and measure theory.
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