Subdiscipline of theoretical physics which consists in the study of physics problems using numerical algorithms. PLEASE NOTE that questions about computational methods and/or programming are OFF-TOPIC on Physics.SE.
15
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5answers
394 views
What do theoretical physicists need from computer scientists?
I recently co-authored a paper (not online yet unfortunately) with some chemists that essentially provided answers to the question, "What do chemists need from computer scientists?" This included the ...
13
votes
4answers
417 views
Home-made lattice calculation?
The topic of Lattice QCD or Lattice gauge theory or even Lattice field theory is quite old now. And the main reason for the interest in the topic is the ability to calculate nonperturbative stuff on a ...
10
votes
1answer
78 views
Consideration of static atomic displacements in electronic structure calculations
I am hoping to discuss some details of electronic structure calculations. I am not an expert on this topic, so please forgive any abuse of terminology. It is my understanding that first principles ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Solving Schrödinger's equation with Crank-Nicolson method
I am trying to numerically solve Schrödinger's equation with Cayley's expansion ($\hbar=1$)
$$\psi(x,t+\Delta t)=e^{-i H\Delta t}\psi(x,t)\approx\frac{1-\frac{1}{2}i H\Delta t}{1+\frac{1}{2}i H\Delta ...
8
votes
1answer
993 views
What programming languages would be helpful for a physicist to know? [closed]
From the vantage point of a physicist and the kind of problems he would like a computer program to solve, what are the essential programming languages that a physicist should know.
I know C++ and I ...
7
votes
4answers
672 views
Dirac equation on general geometries?
I have a numerical method for computing solutions to the Dirac equation for a spin 1/2 particle constrained to an arbitrary surface and am interested in finding applications where the configuration ...
7
votes
2answers
752 views
Should acceleration be included in state vector of a Kalman filter?
I'm developing (actually adopting existing solution) a Kalman filter to model motion of a vehicle (UAV or automobile). The state vector will include position, velocity, and, possibly, acceleration.
...
6
votes
5answers
442 views
How useful is programming in physics?
I have been wondering recently how useful programming is to a physicist. It seems fairly useful (simulations are a lot cheaper than the actual thing in many cases) in some areas (say space programs), ...
6
votes
2answers
765 views
Physics of simple collisions
I'm building a physics simulator for a graphics course, and so far I have it implementing gravitational and Coulomb forces. I want to add collisions next, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about ...
6
votes
1answer
421 views
What is the status of applying numerical analysis to QM/QFT problems
This is something I don't ever seem to hear about, except regarding QCD ("lattice QCD"). What about QED? Is numerical integration always inferior to hand-calculating Feynman diagrams in perturbation ...
6
votes
1answer
239 views
How do you simulate chiral gauge theories on a computer?
David Tong and Lubos Motl have argued that our universe can't possibly be a digital computer simulation because chiral gauge theories can't be discretized, and the Standard Model is a chiral gauge ...
5
votes
2answers
2k views
Solving one dimensional Schrodinger equation with finite difference method
Consider the one-dimensional Schrodinger equation
$$-\frac{1}{2}D^2 \psi(x)+V(x)\psi(x)=E\psi(x)$$
where $D^2=\dfrac{d^2}{dx^2},V(x)=-\dfrac{1}{|x|}$.
I want to calculate the ground state ...
5
votes
3answers
298 views
Supergravity calculation using computer algebra system in early days
I was having a look at the original paper on supergravity by Ferrara, Freedman and van Nieuwenhuizen available here. The abstract has an interesting line saying that
Added note: This term has now ...
5
votes
2answers
202 views
In condensed matter simulations, how is particle number density computed in practice?
I have been reading a recent paper. In it, the authors performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of parallel-plate supercapacitors, in which liquid resides between the parallel-plate electrodes. ...
5
votes
1answer
157 views
What equation describes the electrostatic potential in these circumstances?
I have a solver for Poisson's equation and it works nicely. It uses finite differences. It works in the presence of multiple dielectrics.
It also solves the Poisson Boltzmann equation. That is, fixed ...
