Monte Carlo Simulation in Statistical Physics: An Introduction

About this book

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. This fourth edition has been updated and a new chapter on Monte Carlo simulation of quantum-mechanical problems 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 the winner of the Berni J. Alder CECAM Award for Computational Physics 2001.

Contents

1 Introduction: Purpose and Scope of This Volume, and Some General Comments.- 2 Theoretical Foundation of the Monte Carlo Method and Its Application in Statistical Physics.- 3 Guide to Practical Work with the Monte Carlo Method.- 4 Some Important Recent Developments of the Monte Carlo Methodology.- 5 Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations: An Introduction.- Appendix.- References, Bibliography, Subject Index.

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