Evolution, Money, War, and Computers (Edition Suhrkamp): Non-Traditional Applications of Computational Statistical Physics (Teubner Texte zur Physik, 34, Band 34) - Softcover

Oliveira, Suzana Moss De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3519002795 ISBN 13: 9783519002796

Verlag: Teubner Verlag, 1999

Inhaltsangabe

Physics has always influenced other fields, from the mirrors of Archimedes which were supposed to ignite the sails of enemy warships, to the hydrogen bombs which could destroy Sao Paulo and Dusseldorf. More recently, (com­ putational) statistical physics has been applied to biology, economics, world politics, etc. This book presents some examples in this direction to explain these methods. We do not claim to present a textbook of biology, or a so­ lution of economic problems; we merely explain how physicists like us did it, in order to encourage others to try similar interdisciplinary work. The theo­ ries presented here may not be the best ones for the problems but should be the ones closest to statistical physics methods. In most fields we give only the general idea to guide the reader to the original literature; for the Penna model of biological ageing we try to give a more complete overview, including computer programs, so that readers can start their own research immediately in this field. The selection of material follows our own experience, and even with these selected applications we would appreciate if readers would inform us about overlooked literature. We prove our ignorance, if we do not cite impor­ tant papers. We thank many people, in particular M. Azbel, A. T. Bernardes, S. Dasgupta, S. Galam, H. J. Herrmann, N. Jan, H. Milbrodt, T. J. P. Penna, S. Solomon, D. Sornette, Y. C. Zhang and R.

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This book for physicists, biologists, computer scientists, economists or social scientists shows in selected examples how computer simulation methods which are typical to statistical physics have been applied in other areas outside of physics. Our main part deals with the biology of ageing, while other examples are the functioning of the immune system, the structure of DNA, the fluctuations on the stock market, theories for sociology and for World War II. Are leaky water faucets similar to our heartbeats? Throughout the book we emphasize microscopic models dealing with the action of individuals, whether they are cells of the immune system or traders speculating on the currency market. Complete computer programs are given and explained for biological ageing. The references try to introduce the expert from the covered other fields to the relevant physics literature; and they also show the physicists the way into the biological literature on ageing.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Teubner Verlag
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1999
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 3519002795
• ISBN 13: 9783519002796
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 160
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH; ProductSafety@springernature.com; ; Europaplatz 3; Heidelberg; 69115; Deutschland