Computer Simulation

Computer simulation was first pioneered as a scientific tool in meteorology and nuclear physics in the period following World War II, but it has grown rapidly to become indispensible in a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including astrophysics, high-energy physics, climate science, engineering, ecology, and economics. Digital computer simulation helps study phenomena of great complexity, but how much do we know about the limits and possibilities of this new scientific practice? How do simulations compare to traditional experiments? And are they reliable? Eric Winsberg seeks to answer these questions in Science in the Age of Computer Simulation. Scrutinizing these issue with a philosophical lens, Winsberg explores the impact of simulation on such issues as the nature of scientific evidence; the role of values in science; the nature and role of fictions in science; and the relationship between simulation and experiment, theories and data, and theories at different levels of description. Science in the Age of Computer Simulation will transform many of the core issues in philosophy of science, as well as our basic understanding of the role of the digital computer in the sciences.

A description of computer programs for simulating phenomena in hydrodynamics, gas dynamics, and elastic plastic flow in one, two, and three dimensions. The text covers Maxwell's equations, and thermal and radiation diffusion, while the numerical procedures described permit the exact conservation of physical properties in the solutions of the fundamental laws of mechanics. The author also treats materials, including the use of simulation programs to predict material behavior.

Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation of Activated Sludge Systems – Second Edition provides, from the process engineering perspective, a comprehensive and up-to-date overview regarding various aspects of the mechanistic (“white box”) modelling and simulation of advanced activated sludge systems performing biological nutrient removal. In the new edition of the book, a special focus is given to nitrogen removal and the latest developments in modelling the innovative nitrogen removal processes. Furthermore, a new section on micropollutant removal has been added. The focus of modelling has been shifting in the last years to models that can describe the performance of a whole plant (plant-wide modelling). The expanded part of this new edition introduces models describing the most important processes interrelated with the mainstream activated sludge systems as well as models describing the energy balance, operating costs and environmental impact. The complex process evaluation, including minimization of energy consumption and carbon footprint, is in line with the present and future wastewater treatment goals. By combining a general introduction and a textbook, this book serves both intermediate and more experienced model users, both researchers and practitioners, as a comprehensive guide to modelling and simulation studies. The book can be used as a supplemental material at graduate and post-graduate levels of wastewater engineering/modelling courses.

This unique volume introduces and discusses the methods of validating computer simulations in scientific research. The core concepts, strategies, and techniques of validation are explained by an international team of pre-eminent authorities, drawing on expertise from various fields ranging from engineering and the physical sciences to the social sciences and history. The work also offers new and original philosophical perspectives on the validation of simulations. Topics and features: introduces the fundamental concepts and principles related to the validation of computer simulations, and examines philosophical frameworks for thinking about validation; provides an overview of the various strategies and techniques available for validating simulations, as well as the preparatory steps that have to be taken prior to validation; describes commonly used reference points and mathematical frameworks applicable to simulation validation; reviews the legal prescriptions, and the administrative and procedural activities related to simulation validation; presents examples of best practice that demonstrate how methods of validation are applied in various disciplines and with different types of simulation models; covers important practical challenges faced by simulation scientists when applying validation methods and techniques; offers a selection of general philosophical reflections that explore the significance of validation from a broader perspective. This truly interdisciplinary handbook will appeal to a broad audience, from professional scientists spanning all natural and social sciences, to young scholars new to research with computer simulations. Philosophers of science, and methodologists seeking to increase their understanding of simulation validation, will also find much to benefit from in the text.

The book is organised around the accounts of professional designers engaged in a high-stakes competition to redefine architecture in the context of computer simulation.

Computer Simulation in Chemical Physics contains the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Institute held at CORISA, Alghero, Sardinia, in September 1992. In the five years that have elapsed since the field was last summarized there have been a number of remarkable advances which have significantly expanded the scope of the methods. Good examples are the Car--Parrinello method, which allows the study of materials with itinerant electrons; the Gibbs technique for the direct simulation of liquid--vapor phase equilibria; the transfer of scaling concepts from simulations of spin models to more complex systems; and the development of the configurational--biased Monte-Carlo methods for studying dense polymers. The field has also been stimulated by an enormous increase in available computing power and the provision of new software. All these exciting developments, an more, are discussed in an accessible way here, making the book indispensable reading for graduate students and research scientists in both academic and industrial settings.