Monte Carlo Simulation in Statistical Physics: An Introduction

✍ Scribed by Kurt Binder, Dieter W. Heermann (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 215
• Series: Graduate Texts in Physics 0
• Edition: 5
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Monte Carlo Simulation in Statistical Physics deals with the computer simulation of many-body systems in condensed-matter physics and related fields of physics, chemistry and beyond, to traffic flows, stock market fluctuations, etc.). Using random numbers generated by a computer, probability distributions are calculated, allowing the estimation of the thermodynamic properties of various systems. This book describes the theoretical background to several variants of these Monte Carlo methods and gives a systematic presentation from which newcomers can learn to perform such simulations and to analyze their results. The fifth edition covers Classical as well as Quantum Monte Carlo methods. Furthermore a new chapter on the sampling of free-energy landscapes has been added. To help students in their work a special web server has been installed to host programs and discussion groups (http://wwwcp.tphys.uni-heidelberg.de). Prof. Binder was awarded the Berni J. Alder CECAM Award for Computational Physics 2001 as well as the Boltzmann Medal in 2007.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Introduction: Purpose and Scope of This Volume, and Some General Comments....Pages 1-4
Theoretical Foundations of the Monte Carlo Method and Its Applications in Statistical Physics....Pages 5-67
Guide to Practical Work with the Monte Carlo Method....Pages 69-110
Some Important Recent Developments of the Monte Carlo Methodology....Pages 111-130
Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations: An Introduction....Pages 131-152
Monte Carlo Methods for the Sampling of Free Energy Landscapes....Pages 153-174
Back Matter....Pages 175-200

✦ Subjects

Mathematical Methods in Physics;Condensed Matter Physics;Physical Chemistry;Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity;Numerical and Computational Physics;Thermodynamics