Simulation, therefore, is the process of running a model.

By contrast, computer simulation is the actual running of the program that contains these equations or algorithms. 7 Computer simulation in practical contextsĪ computer model is the algorithms and equations used to capture the behavior of the system being modeled.īecause of the computational cost of simulation, computer experiments are used to perform inference such as uncertainty quantification. Other examples include a 1-billion-atom model of material deformation a 2.64-million-atom model of the complex protein-producing organelle of all living organisms, the ribosome, in 2005 Ī complete simulation of the life cycle of Mycoplasma genitalium in 2012 and the Blue Brain project at EPFL (Switzerland), begun in May 2005 to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level. In 1997, a desert-battle simulation of one force invading another involved the modeling of 66,239 tanks, trucks and other vehicles on simulated terrain around Kuwait, using multiple supercomputers in the DoD High Performance Computer Modernization Program. The scale of events being simulated by computer simulations has far exceeded anything possible (or perhaps even imaginable) using traditional paper-and-pencil mathematical modeling. Ĭomputer simulations are realized by running computer programs that can be either small, running almost instantly on small devices, or large-scale programs that run for hours or days on network-based groups of computers. It can be used to explore and gain new insights into new technology and to estimate the performance of systems too complex for analytical solutions. Simulation of a system is represented as the running of the system's model.

Computer simulations have become a useful tool for the mathematical modeling of many natural systems in physics ( computational physics), astrophysics, climatology, chemistry, biology and manufacturing, as well as human systems in economics, psychology, social science, health care and engineering. The reliability of some mathematical models can be determined by comparing their results to the real-world outcomes they aim to predict. Process of building a computer model, and the interplay between experiment, simulation, and theory.Ĭomputer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system.

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