Kurt Binder – författare

The sixth edition of this highly successful textbook provides a detailed introduction to Monte Carlo simulation in statistical physics, which deals with the computer simulation of many-body systems in condensed matter physics and related fields of physics and beyond (traffic flows, stock market fluctuations, etc.). Using random numbers generated by a computer, these powerful simulation methods calculate probability distributions, making it possible to estimate the thermodynamic properties of various systems. The book describes the theoretical background of these methods, enabling newcomers to perform such simulations and to analyse their results. It features a modular structure, with two chapters providing a basic pedagogic introduction plus exercises suitable for university courses; the remaining chapters cover major recent developments in the field.

This edition has been updated with two new chapters dealing with recently developed powerful special algorithms and with finitesize scaling tools for the study of interfacial phenomena, which are important for nanoscience. Previous editions have been highly praised and widely used by both students and advanced researchers.

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 methodsand 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 the winner of the Berni J. Alder CECAM Award for Computational Physics 2001 as well as the Boltzmann Medal in 2007.

This comprehensive collection of lectures by leading experts in the field introduces and reviews all relevant computer simulation methods and their applications in condensed matter systems. Volume 1 is an in-depth introduction to a vast spectrum of computational techniques for statistical mechanical systems of condensed matter. Volume 2 is a collection of state-of-the-art surveys on numerical experiments carried out for a great number of systems.