Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical analysis to solve problems in physics. Historically, computational physics was the first application of modern computers in science, and is now a subset of computational science. It is sometimes regarded as a subdiscipline of theoretical physics, but others consider it an intermediate branch between theoretical and experimental physics — an area of study which supplements both theory and experiment.
Alexandre Joel Chorin is an American mathematician known for his contributions to computational fluid mechanics, turbulence, and computational statistical mechanics.
The Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook operator term refers to a collision operator used in the Boltzmann equation and in the lattice Boltzmann method, a computational fluid dynamics technique. It is given by the formula
The Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics is a prize that has been awarded annually by the American Physical Society since 1993. The recipient is chosen for "outstanding achievement in computational physics research" and it is the highest award given by the APS for work in computational physics. The prize is named after Aneesur Rahman (1927–1987), pioneer of the molecular dynamics simulation method. The prize was valued at $5,000 from 2007 to 2014, and is currently valued at $10,000.
Lattice gas automata (LGCA), or lattice gas cellular automata, are a type of cellular automaton used to simulate fluid flows, pioneered by Hardy–Pomeau–de Pazzis and Frisch–Hasslacher–Pomeau. They were the precursor to the lattice Boltzmann methods. From lattice gas automata, it is possible to derive the macroscopic Navier–Stokes equations. Interest in lattice gas automaton methods levelled off in the early 1990s, as the interest in the lattice Boltzmann started to rise. However, an LGCA variant, termed BIO-LGCA, is still widely used to model collective migration in biology.
Daan Frenkel is a Dutch computational physicist in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge.
Exa Corporation was a developer and distributor of computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. Its main product was PowerFLOW, a lattice-boltzmann derived implementation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which can very accurately simulate internal and external flows in low-Mach regimes. PowerFLOW is used extensively in the international automotive and transportation industries.
Gerald Teschl is an Austrian mathematical physicist and professor of mathematics. He works in the area of mathematical physics; in particular direct and inverse spectral theory with application to completely integrable partial differential equations.
Weinan E is a Chinese mathematician. He is known for his pathbreaking work in applied mathematics and machine learning. His academic contributions include novel mathematical and computational results in stochastic differential equations; design of efficient algorithms to compute multiscale and multiphysics problems, particularly those arising in fluid dynamics and chemistry; and pioneering work on the application of deep learning techniques to scientific computing. In addition, he has worked on multiscale modeling and the study of rare events.
Yuefan Deng is a computational scientist, academic, and author serving as a Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Stony Brook University. His research centers on developing parallel computing and machine learning algorithms for supercomputers, with a particular focus on modeling human platelet dynamics and optimizing Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques for various applications.
Russel E. Caflisch is an American mathematician.
Catherine Sulem is a mathematician and violinist at the University of Toronto.
Laure Saint-Raymond is a French mathematician, and a professor of mathematics at Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES). She was previously a professor at École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. She is known for her work in partial differential equations, and in particular for her contributions to the mathematically rigorous study of the connections between interacting particle systems, the Boltzmann equation, and fluid mechanics. In 2008 she was awarded the European Mathematical Society Prize, with her citation reading:
Saint-Raymond is well known for her outstanding results on nonlinear partial differential equations in the dynamics of gases and plasmas and also in fluid dynamics. [...] Saint-Raymond is at the origin of several outstanding and difficult results in the field of nonlinear partial differential equations of mathematical physics. She is one of the most brilliant young mathematicians in her generation.
Thomas Yizhao Hou is the Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics in the Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. He is known for his work in numerical analysis and mathematical analysis.
Panayotis G. Kevrekidis is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Kevrekidis earned his B.Sc. in physics in 1996 from the University of Athens. He obtained his M.S. in 1998 and his MPhil and Ph.D. in 2000 from Rutgers University, the latter under the joint supervision of Joel Lebowitz and Panos G. Georgopoulos. His thesis was entitled “Lattice Dynamics of Solitary Wave Excitations”. He then assumed a post-doctoral position split between the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics of Princeton University (10/2000–02/2001) and the Theoretical Division and the Center for Nonlinear Studies of Los Alamos National Laboratory (03/2001–08/2001). From 09/2001, he joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Massachusetts Amherst as an assistant professor. He was awarded tenure and promotion to associate professor in 06/2005. As of 09/2010, he is a full professor at the same institution. He is presently the Stanislaw M. Ulam Scholar at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Weizhu Bao is a Chinese mathematician at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is known for his work in applied mathematics with applications in quantum physics and chemistry and materials science, especially Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) and highly oscillatory partial differential equations.
James McLellan Stone is an American astrophysicist who specialises in the study of fluid dynamics. He is currently a faculty member at the school of natural sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study. Stone is also the Lyman Spitzer Jr. Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics, emeritus, and professor of astrophysical sciences and applied and computational mathematics, emeritus, at Princeton University.
Yves Pomeau, born in 1942, is a French mathematician and physicist, emeritus research director at the CNRS and corresponding member of the French Academy of sciences. He was one of the founders of the Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris. He is the son of literature professor René Pomeau.
Lyle Norman Long is an academic, and computational scientist. He is a Professor Emeritus of Computational Science, Mathematics, and Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, and is most known for developing algorithms and software for mathematical models, including neural networks, and robotics. His research has been focused in the fields of computational science, computational neuroscience, cognitive robotics, parallel computing, and software engineering.
Lian-Ping Wang is a mechanical engineer and academic, most known for his work on computational fluid dynamics, turbulence, particle-laden flow, and immiscible multiphase flow, and their applications to industrial and atmospheric processes. He is the chair professor of mechanics and aerospace engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology in China, professor of mechanical engineering, and joint professor of physical ocean science and engineering at University of Delaware.
