Computers in physics: an overview

MAY 01, 1983

While physicists debate which computer language is best and which computing philosophy is right, they are busy using computers to study subjects ranging from quarks to models of the Universe.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2915656

Donald R. Hamann

In the eyes of the general public, the computer has changed from a remote and recalcitrant source of error on monthly bills to a friendly and increasingly common household appliance. Time magazine, which names a “Man of the Year,” in 1982 named the computer instead, and The New York Times runs a weekly computer column. With the popular press full of the subject, it hardly seems necessary to tell an audience of physicists that a computer consists of a central processing unit, a high‐speed memory, mass‐storage disks and so on. A large fraction of the total number of scientists active in research or development have ready access to computers. I can safely assume that my readers have some level of familiarity with the basic operation of modern computers and with a few uses of computers in their fields of specialization. In this article, then, I will address a set of topics of special concern to physicists in the hope that doing so will stimulate further discussion. One indisputable fact is that the presence of computers will continue to expand in our science as in the rest of our lives, and some thoughtful reflection on where we are going and how we shall get there should be time well spent.

References

1. P. H. Abelson, Science 215, 751 (1982). (The issue is devoted to computers).https://doi.org/SCIEAS
2. J. R. Schrieffer, D. J. Scalapino, J. W. Wilkins, Phys. Rev. Lett. 10, 336 (1963).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
3. W. L. McMillan, J. M. Rowell in Superconductivity, R. D. Parks, ed., Vol. 1, Dekker, New York (1969), page 561.
4. K. G. Wilson, Phys. Rev. B 4, 3184 (1971); https://doi.org/PLRBAQ
K. G. Wilson, Rev. Mod. Phys. 47, 773 (1975).https://doi.org/RMPHAT
5. L. J. Sham, M. Schlüter, PHYSICS TODAY, February 1982, page 36.
6. D. R. Hamann, Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 1227 (1981).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
7. K. Binder, ed., Monte Carlo Methods in Statistical Physics, Springer‐Verlag, Berlin (1979).
8. R. W. Hockney, J. W. Eastwood, Computer Simulation Using Particles, McGraw‐Hill, New York (1981).
9. N. J. Zabusky, J. Comp. Phys. 43, 195 (1981).
10. E. N. Lorenz, J. Atmos. Sci. 20, 130 (1963).https://doi.org/JAHSAK
11. H. S. Greenside, W. M. CoughranJr., N. L. Schryer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 726 (1982).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
12. J. C. Tully, Acc. Chem. Res. 14, 188 (1981); https://doi.org/ACHRE4
J. C. Tully, Computers and Chemistry 5, 159 (1981).
13. R. Pike, CERN Workshop on Software in High Energy Physics Proceedings, CERN, Geneva (1982), page 13.
14. R. Pike, H. E. Stanley, J. Phys. A 14, L169 (1981).https://doi.org/JPHAC5
15. A. W. Appel, An Investigation of Galaxy Clustering Using an Asymptotically Fast N‐body Algorithm, Undergraduate Thesis, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (April 1981). An independent method for beating N2 using a particle‐field approach is reported in reference 8, page 440.
16. UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories.
17. A. V. Aho, J. E. Hopcroft, J. D. Ullman, The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms, Addison‐Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts (1974).
18. Report of the Panel on Large Scale Computing in Science and Engineering, P. D. Lax, Chairman, US Department of Defence and National Science Foundation (1983).
19. J. H. Condon, K. Thompson, Advances in Computer Chess 3, M. R. B. Clarke, ed., Pergamon, New York (1982), page 45.
20. R. B. Pearson, J. L. Richardson, D. Toussaint, J. Comp. Phys., to be published.
21. After original by N. Schryer; data from R. W. Keyes, IEEE Trans. on Elect. Devices 26, 271 (1979) https://doi.org/IETDAI
and J. R. Rice, ACM Signum News 11 (4), 6 (1976).

More about the Authors

Donald R. Hamann. Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey.