Simulating The Physical World

The simulation of physical systems requires a simplified, hierarchical approach which models each level from the atomistic to the macroscopic scale. From quantum mechanics to fluid dynamics, this book systematically treats the broad scope of computer modeling and simulations, describing the fundamental theory behind each level of approximation. Berendsen evaluates each stage in relation to its applications giving the reader insight into the possibilities and limitations of the models. Practical guidance for applications and sample programs in Python are provided. With a strong emphasis on molecular models in chemistry and biochemistry, this 2007 book will be suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on molecular modeling and simulation within physics, biophysics, physical chemistry and materials science. It will also be a useful reference to all those working in the field. Additional resources for this title including solutions for instructors and programs are available online at www.cambridge.org/9780521835275.

Learn all about Blender, the premier open-source 3D software, in Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D. You will find step-by-step instructions for using Blender’s complex features and full-color visual examples with detailed descriptions of the processes. If you’re an advanced Blender user, you will appreciate the sophisticated coverage of Blender’s fluid simulation system, a review Blender’s latest features, and a guide to the Bullet physics engine, which handles a variety of physics simulations such as rigid body dynamics and rag doll physics.

Becoming a mother changes lives in many ways, and this book explores how women try to make sense of, and narrate their experiences of, first-time motherhood in industrialized society. It charts the social, cultural and moral contours of contemporary motherhood and engages with sociological and feminist debates on how selves are constituted, maintained and narrated.

The Simulation Hypothesis, by best-selling author, renowned MIT computer scientist and Silicon Valley video game designer Rizwan Virk, is the first serious book to explain one of the most daring and consequential theories of our time. Riz is the Executive Director of Play Labs @ MIT, a video game startup incubator at the MIT Game Lab. Drawing from research and concepts from computer science, artificial intelligence, video games, quantum physics, and referencing both speculative fiction and ancient eastern spiritual texts, Virk shows how all of these traditions come together to point to the idea that we may be inside a simulated reality like the Matrix. The Simulation Hypothesis is the idea that our physical reality, far from being a solid physical universe, is part of an increasingly sophisticated video game-like simulation, where we all have multiple lives, consisting of pixels with its own internal clock run by some giant Artificial Intelligence. Simulation theory explains some of the biggest mysteries of quantum and relativistic physics, such as quantum indeterminacy, parallel universes, and the integral nature of the speed of light. Recently, the idea that we may be living in a giant video game has received a lot of attention: “There’s a one in a billion chance we are not living in a simulation” -Elon Musk “I find it hard to argue we are not in a simulation.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson “We are living in computer generated reality.” -Philip K. Dick Video game technology has developed from basic arcade and text adventures to MMORPGs. Video game designer Riz Virk shows how these games may continue to evolve in the future, including virtual reality, augmented reality, Artificial Intelligence, and quantum computing. This book shows how this evolution could lead us to the point of being able to develop all encompassing virtual worlds like the Oasis in Ready Player One, or the simulated reality in the Matrix. While the idea sounds like science fiction, many scientists, engineers, and professors have given the Simulation Hypothesis serious consideration. Futurist Ray Kurzweil has popularized the idea of downloading our consciousness into a silicon based device, which would mean we are just digital information after all. Some, like Oxford lecturer Nick Bostrom, goes further and thinks we may in fact be artificially intelligent consciousness inside such a simulation already! But the Simulation Hypothesis is not just a modern idea. Philosophers like Plato have been telling us that we live in a “cave” and can only see shadows of the real world. Mystics of all traditions have long contended that we are living in some kind of “illusion “and that there are other realities which we can access with our minds. While even Judeo-Christian traditions have this idea, Eastern traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism make this idea part of their core tradition — that we are inside a dream world (“Maya” or illusion, or Vishnu’s Dream), and we have “multiple lives” playing different characters when one dies, continuing to gain experience and “level up” after completing certain challenges. Sounds a lot like a video game! Whether you are a computer scientist, a fan of science fiction like the Matrix movies, a video game enthusiast, or a spiritual seeker, The Simulation Hypothesis touches on all these areas, and you will never look at the world the same way again!

Learn all about Blender, the premier open-source 3D software, in Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D. You will find step-by-step instructions for using Blender’s complex features and full-color visual examples with detailed descriptions of the processes. If you’re an advanced Blender user, you will appreciate the sophisticated coverage of Blender’s fluid simulation system, a review Blender’s latest features, and a guide to the Bullet physics engine, which handles a variety of physics simulations such as rigid body dynamics and rag doll physics.

An introductory textbook for people who have not programmed before. Covers basic MATLAB programming with emphasis on modeling and simulation of physical systems.

Modeling and Simulation in Python teaches readers how to analyze real-world scenarios using the Python programming language, requiring no more than a background in high school math. Modeling and Simulation in Python is a thorough but easy-to-follow introduction to physical modeling—that is, the art of describing and simulating real-world systems. Readers are guided through modeling things like world population growth, infectious disease, bungee jumping, baseball flight trajectories, celestial mechanics, and more while simultaneously developing a strong understanding of fundamental programming concepts like loops, vectors, and functions. Clear and concise, with a focus on learning by doing, the author spares the reader abstract, theoretical complexities and gets right to hands-on examples that show how to produce useful models and simulations.

This book presents a unique selection of fully reviewed, extended papers originally presented at the Social Simulation Conference 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. Only papers on the simulation of historical processes have been selected, the aim being to present theories and methods of computer simulation that can be relevant to understanding the past. Applications range from the Paleolithic and the origins of social life up to the Roman Empire and Early Modern societies. Case studies from Europe, America, Africa and Asia have been selected for publication. The extensive introduction offers a thorough review of the computer simulation of social dynamics in past societies as a means of understanding human history. This book will be of great interest to researchers in the social sciences, archaeology, evolutionary anthropology, and social history.

An introduction to modeling and simulating physical systems with MATLAB, mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists. A concise introduction to programming and modeling real world systems with MATLAB, a popular programming language for science and engineering. Unlike competing books which are often too mathematical and theoretical, this book by best-selling author Allen Downey is designed to be practical, with an emphasis on thinking about how to design and use models. The author shows the reader that systems may have many possible models and shows them how to justify modeling decisions, choose appropriate models, validate their choices, and iteratively improve their models. Readers are taught basic programming skills and how to combine them with MATLAB to model and simulate systems like population growth, baseball flight trajectories, bungee jumping, and celestial mechanics. For example, the book explores concepts like the Penny Drop Myth: the claim that a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building lands with enough force to injure a person or the sidewalk. The author addresses this myth by developing and implementing three models of the system, including or excluding features like air resistance and spin. Other physical systems include world population growth, infectious disease, the coffee cooling problem, baseball trajectories, bungee jumping, and celestial mechanics. Readers learn to use MATLAB to visualize and summarize their results, as well as how to use their models to predict, explain, and design systems. The book presents applications from a range of areas including demography, thermodynamics, epidemiology, ecology, pharmacokinetics, and mechanics. Numerous exercises, sample code, and MATLAB Live Scripts (notebooks that include code, results, and explanatory text) help the reader develop the knowledge and skills necessary to work comfortably in MATLAB.

This book introduces readers to the principles and practical applications of intelligent robot system with robot operating system (ROS), pursuing a task-oriented and hands-on approach. Taking the conception, design, implementation, and operation of robot application systems as a typical project, and through “learning-by-doing, practicing-while-learning” approach, it familiarizes readers with ROS-based intelligent robot system design and development step by step. The topics covered include ROS principles, mobile robot control, Lidar, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), navigation, manipulator control, image recognition, vision calibration, object grasping, vision SALM, etc., with typical practical application tasks throughout the book, which are essential to mastering development methods for intelligent robot system. Easy to follow and rich in content, the book can be used at colleges and universities as learning material and a teaching reference book for “intelligent robot,” “autonomous intelligent system,” “robotics principles,” and “robot system application development with ROS” in connection with automation, robotics engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), mechatronics, and other related majors. The book can assist in mastering the development and design of robot systems and provide the necessary theoretical and practical references to cultivate robot system development capabilities and can be used as teaching material for engineering training and competitions, or for reference, self-study, and training by engineering and technical personnel, teachers, and anyone who wants to engage in intelligent robot system development and design.