Back Cover Copy
This book deals with the simulation of complex systems.
Complex systems are made of many components interacting with each other. Several natural systems found in physics, biology and engineering can be considered complex systems, because their behaviour is not easily predictable being the result of complex interactions among their constituents. Examples of complex systems are a cell with its organelles, an organ, the human brain, social networks, transportation and communication systems, the stock market, ecosystems, systems with prey and predators, a swarm of bees.
In this book the authors explain the most used and effective numerical simulation techniques to approach a variety of complex systems that are of fundamental importance in physics, biology, engineering, social sciences, and economics. The format of the book, organised in self-contained chapters, with exercises and references, is ideal for the student who wants to gain knowledge on a specific topic by learning how to simulate it. The book's hands-on approach (at Undergraduate and Graduate level) will provide insight and experience to the reader engaging actively with the proposed numerical exercises. Complemented by supplementary example codes and video tutorials, the book is also appropriate for self-study. The "bottom-up" approach is innovative and allows the reader to conduct numerical experiments to explore the system's behaviour.
Autorentext
Author Bios
Giovanni Volpe
Giovanni Volpe is a Professor at the Physics Department of the University of Gothenburg University, where he leads the Soft Matter Lab. His research interests include soft matter, active matter, optical trapping and manipulation, statistical mechanics, brain connectivity, and machine learning. He has authored more than 100 articles and reviews on soft matter, statistical physics, optics, physics of complex systems, brain network analysis, and machine learning. He co-authored the book "Optical Tweezers: Principles and Applications" (Cambridge University Press, 2015). He has developed several software packages (Optical Tweezers Software, Braph - Brain Analysis Using Graph Theory, DeepTrack, DeepCalib).
Agnese Callegari
Agnese Callegari is a researcher at the Physics Department of Gothenburg University. Her research interests are optical trapping and manipulation, statistical physics, soft matter, active matter. She has authored 14 publications, and she has extensive experience in numerical simulations. She has been teaching basic physics courses for scientists and engineers.
Aykut Argun
Aykut Argun is a PhD student in Physics at Gothenburg University. His research interests are optical trapping and manipulation, statistical physics, soft matter, active matter, machine learning technique applied to experimental data Analysis. He has authored 8 publications, and he has served several years as a teaching assistant in courses like "Simulation of complex systems", "Optical trapping", "Statistical physics." He has a solid experience in teaching and explaining physics to high school, undergraduate and graduate students.
Klappentext
Web Copy
This book deals with the most fundamental and essential techniques to simulate complex systems, from the dynamics of molecules to the spreading of diseases, from optimization using ant colonies to the simulation of the Game of Life.
Several natural systems found in physics, biology and engineering can be considered complex systems, because their behaviour is not easily predictable and is the result of complex interactions among their constituents. Examples of complex systems are a cell with its organelles, an organ, the human brain, social networks, transportation and communication systems, the stock market, ecosystems, systems with prey and predators, a swarm of bees.
There are several specialized books focusing on different simulation methods, but there is not one fully devoted to complex systems. The "bottom-up" approach is innovative and allows the reader to conduct numerical experiments to explore the system's behaviour.
Key Features
1. Composed of self-contained, independent chapters
2. Illustrates simulation techniques in a broad range of fields from physics and biology to engineering, social science and economics
3. Provides a hands-on approach with guided exercises
4. Covers the fundamental numerical techniques in complex systems
5. Ideal for self-study
6. Contains supplementary example codes and video tutorials
Inhalt
Contents
1 Molecular Dynamics
2 Ising model
3 Forest Fires
4 The Game of Life
5 Brownian Dynamics
6 Anomalous Diffusion
7 Multiplicative Noise
8 The Vicsek Model
9 Living Crystals
10 Sensory Delay
11 Disease Spreading
12 Network Models
13 Evolutionary Games
14 Ecosystems
15 Ant-colony Optimization
16 The Sugarscape