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.

Martin Oliver Steinhauser deals with several aspects of multiscale materials modeling and simulation in applied materials research and fundamental science. He covers various multiscale modeling approaches for high-performance ceramics, biological bilayer membranes, semi-flexible polymers, and human cancer cells. He demonstrates that the physics of shock waves, i.e., the investigation of material behavior at high strain rates and of material failure, has grown to become an important interdisciplinary field of research on its own. At the same time, progress in computer hardware and software development has boosted new ideas in multiscale modeling and simulation. Hence, bridging the length and time scales in a theoretical-numerical description of materials has become a prime challenge in science and technology.

Devastatingly simple, yet hugely effective, the concept of this timely text is to provide a comprehensive overview of computational physics methods and techniques used for materials modeling on different length and time scales. Each chapter first provides an overview of the physical basic principles which are the basis for the numerical and mathematical modeling on the respective length scale. The book includes the micro scale, the meso-scale and the macro scale.