Because of the tremendous increase in the power and utility of computer simulations, in 1986 The University of Georgia created the Center for Simu lational Physics as a unit devoted to the use of simulations in research and teaching. As the international "simulations community" expanded further, we sensed a need for a meeting place for both experienced simulators and beginners to present and discuss new techniques and recent results in an envi ronment which promoted a lively exchange of information. As a consequence, the Center for Simulational Physics established an annual workshop on Re cent Developments in Computer Simulation Studies in Condensed Matter Physics. This year's workshop was the 16th in this series, and the continued interest shown by the simulations community demonstrates quite clearly the useful purpose that these meetings have served. The latest workshop was held at The University of Georgia, February 24-28, 2003, and these proceedings provide a "status report" on a number of important topics. This volume is published with the goal of timely dissemination of the material to a broader audience. We wish to offer a special thanks to IBM Corporation and to the National Science Foundation for partial support of this year's workshop. This volume contains both invited papers and contributed presentations on problems in both classical and quantum condensed matter physics. It is our hope that each reader will benefit from specialized results as well as profit from exposure to new algorithms, methods of analysis, and conceptual developments.

Status report on the latest developments in simulations in condensed-matter physics

Autorentext
David P. Landau is the Distinguished Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for Simulational Physics at the University of Georgia.

Klappentext

This status report features the most recent developments in the field, spanning a wide range of topical areas in the computer simulation of condensed matter/materials physics. Both established and new topics are included, ranging from the statistical mechanics of classical magnetic spin models to electronic structure calculations, quantum simulations, and simulations of soft condensed matter. The book presents new physical results as well as novel methods of simulation and data analysis. Highlights of this volume include various aspects of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, studies of properties of real materials using both classical model simulations and electronic structure calculations, and the use of computer simulation in teaching.

Inhalt
1 Computer Simulation Studies in Condensed Matter Physics: An Introduction.- I Nonequilibrium Phenomena.- 2. Fast Coarsening and Steady States in a Low-Dimensional Driven System.- 3. A Nonequilibrium Lattice Gas of Two-species: Monte Carlo Investigations.- 4. Stochastic Growth in a Small World.- 5. Flicker Noise in a Model of Coevolving Biological Populations.- II Quantum Phenomena.- 6. Physical and Computational Aspects of Density Functional Spin Dynamics.- 7. Finite Temperature Simulation Based on Lanczos Algorithm for Low-Dimensional Quantum Systems.- 8. Quantum Phase Transitions of Quasi-One-Dimensional Heisenberg Antiferromagnets.- 9. Multi-hole Tunneling between Charge Domains in Doped Antiferromagnets.- 10. Decoherence in Quantum Spin Systems.- 11. Quantum Computing Simulation using the Auxiliary Field Decomposition.- III Phase Transitions.- 12. Quenched Disorder Distributions in Three-Dimensional Diluted Ferromagnets.- 13. Weak Universality of Spin Glasses in Three Dimensions.- 14. Critical Exponents of the Two Dimensional Melting.- 15. Numerical Study of Critical Exponents for KosterlitzThouless Transition Systems.- 16. Critical Wetting and Interface LocalizationDerealization Transition in a Double Wedge.- IV Soft Condensed Matter.- 17. Effect of Packing Parameter on Amphiphilic Self-Assembly: A Brownian Dynamics Study.- 18. The Droplet Evaporation/Condensation Transition in a Finite Volume.- 19. Configurational Bias Monte Carlo Applied to Lipid Membranes in the Semi-grand Ensemble to Speed Up Mixing.- 20. Folding Polymer Chains.- 21. Polymer Collapse in High Dimensions: Monte Carlo Simulation of Lattice Models.- 22. Computer Simulation of Polymers: Physics and Methods from Specific to Universal.- V Methods and Pedagogy.- 23. Using Simulations to TeachStatistical Physics.- 24. Visualization of Melting Simulations.- 25. Network Algorithms and Critical Manifolds in Disordered Systems.- 26. Random Graphs as Building Blocks for a Network Model.- 27. Generalized Probability-Changing Algorithm.- 28. Adaptive Integration Method.- VI Simulations of Materials.- 29. Lattice Instabilities of Perovskite Oxides from First Principles.- 30. Monte Carlo Simulations of Metal Monoatomic Layers.- 31. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Nanoindentation.- List of Contributors.