Efficient Algorithms in Computational Physics

DPG Physics School on

Efficient Algorithms in Computational Physics

supported by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus - Foundation
10 - 14 September, 2012, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Germany
Organized by
Alexander K. Hartmann (University of Oldenburg) and A. Peter Young (University of California Santa Cruz)

Poster

Subject of the school
Computer simulations play an ever increasing role in physics research. For example, more than 20% of all publications in Physical Review Letters are concerned, at least partially, with numerical methods. The reason for this success is that, with the widespread availability of powerful computing facilities, computer simulations allow to us study systems which are intractable analytically, to measure “arbitrary” quantities which are out of reach of experiments, and to study a wide range of models, some of which are very close to experiment while others are very artificial but contain an important piece of physics. This school will provide an introduction to the field, including up-to-date research topics. A drawback of computer simulations, the limited size of the systems, can be overcome in principle by “finite-size scaling” which extrapolates results from finite-size systems to the thermodynamic limit. However, even including finitesize scaling, the accuracy of the results improves if larger sizes can be included. Hence, a particular emphasis of this school will be efficient algorithms, which allow one to study larger system sizes than with standard approaches. Since doing computer simulations means learning by doing, the school comprises, in addition to lectures, of a consderable amount of hands-on exercises at the computer. For this purpose, if at all possible, attendants should bring their own laptops. Here can you find the technical requirements for your laptops.

The school addresses students which have a physics background and basic knowledge in a higher programming language like Pascal, C/C++, or Fortran. The language used throughout the school will be the C programming language (and some Python scripts). For this purpose, all participants will obtain in advance an concise text containing an introduction to C. Basic knowledge in Computational Physics and Statistical Physics are not required but advantageous.

All participants will receive a free copy of the textbook “A Practical Guide to Computer Simulations” (author: A.K. Hartmann, World Scientific, Singapore, 2009).

Lecturers
• Anthonius Coolen (King’s College, London, UK)
• Alexander K. Hartmann (University of Oldenburg, Germany)
• Helmut G. Katzgraber (Texas A&M University, College Station, USA)
• Werner Krauth (Ecole Normale Superieure Paris, France)
• Frauke Liers (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg)
• Roger G. Melko (University of Waterloo, Canada)
• Heiko Rieger (University of Saarbruecken, Germany)
• A. Peter Young (University of California, Santa Cruz, USA)
• Robert M. Ziff (University of Michigan, Ann Abor, USA)