<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
study	O
and	O
implementation	O
of	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
to	O
solve	O
problems	O
in	O
physics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Historically	O
,	O
computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
was	O
the	O
first	O
application	O
of	O
modern	O
computers	O
in	O
science	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
now	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
computational	O
science	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
such	O
cases	O
,	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
approximations	I-General_Concept
are	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
subject	O
that	O
deals	O
with	O
these	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
approximations	I-General_Concept
:	O
the	O
approximation	O
of	O
the	O
solution	O
is	O
written	O
as	O
a	O
finite	O
(	O
and	O
typically	O
large	O
)	O
number	O
of	O
simple	O
mathematical	O
operations	O
(	O
algorithm	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
computer	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
perform	O
these	O
operations	O
and	O
compute	O
an	O
approximated	O
solution	O
and	O
respective	O
error	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
problems	O
are	O
in	O
general	O
very	O
difficult	O
to	O
solve	O
exactly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
-	O
even	O
apparently	O
simple	O
problems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
calculating	O
the	O
wavefunction	O
of	O
an	O
electron	O
orbiting	O
an	O
atom	O
in	O
a	O
strong	O
electric	O
field	O
(	O
Stark	O
effect	O
)	O
,	O
may	O
require	O
great	O
effort	O
to	O
formulate	O
a	O
practical	O
algorithm	O
(	O
if	O
one	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
)	O
;	O
other	O
cruder	O
or	O
brute-force	O
techniques	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
graphical	B-Application
methods	I-Application
or	O
root	O
finding	O
,	O
may	O
be	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
computational	O
cost	O
and	O
computational	O
complexity	O
for	O
many-body	B-Algorithm
problems	I-Algorithm
(	O
and	O
their	O
classical	O
counterparts	O
)	O
tend	O
to	O
grow	O
quickly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
many	O
physical	O
systems	O
are	O
inherently	O
nonlinear	O
at	O
best	O
,	O
and	O
at	O
worst	O
chaotic	O
:	O
this	O
means	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
difficult	O
to	O
ensure	O
any	O
numerical	B-Algorithm
errors	I-Algorithm
do	O
not	O
grow	O
to	O
the	O
point	O
of	O
rendering	O
the	O
'	O
solution	O
 '	O
useless	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
uses	O
a	O
broad	O
class	O
of	O
problems	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
generally	O
divided	O
amongst	O
the	O
different	O
mathematical	O
problems	O
it	O
numerically	B-General_Concept
solves	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
methods	O
it	O
applies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
also	O
borrows	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
ideas	O
from	O
computational	O
chemistry	O
-	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
density	O
functional	O
theory	O
used	O
by	O
computational	O
solid	O
state	O
physicists	O
to	O
calculate	O
properties	O
of	O
solids	O
is	O
basically	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
that	O
used	O
by	O
chemists	O
to	O
calculate	O
the	O
properties	O
of	O
molecules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
encompasses	O
the	O
tuning	B-Device
of	O
the	O
software/hardware	O
structure	O
to	O
solve	O
the	O
problems	O
(	O
as	O
the	O
problems	O
usually	O
can	O
be	O
very	O
large	O
,	O
in	O
processing	B-Architecture
power	I-Architecture
need	I-Architecture
or	O
in	O
memory	B-Operating_System
requests	I-Operating_System
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
mechanics	I-Algorithm
consists	O
of	O
computational	O
fluid	O
dynamics	O
(	O
CFD	O
)	O
,	O
computational	O
solid	O
mechanics	O
and	O
computational	O
contact	O
mechanics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	O
chemistry	O
is	O
a	O
rapidly	O
growing	O
field	O
that	O
was	O
developed	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
quantum	B-Algorithm
many-body	I-Algorithm
problem	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	O
solid	O
state	O
physics	O
is	O
a	O
very	O
important	O
division	O
of	O
computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
dealing	O
directly	O
with	O
material	O
science	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
broadly	O
,	O
(	O
particularly	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
agent	O
based	O
modeling	O
and	O
cellular	O
automata	O
)	O
it	O
also	O
concerns	O
itself	O
with	O
(	O
and	O
finds	O
application	O
in	O
,	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
its	O
techniques	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
social	O
sciences	O
,	O
network	O
theory	O
,	O
and	O
mathematical	O
models	O
for	O
the	O
propagation	O
of	O
disease	O
(	O
most	O
notably	O
,	O
the	O
SIR	O
Model	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
spread	B-Application
of	I-Application
forest	I-Application
fires	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numerical	B-Algorithm
relativity	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
(	O
relatively	O
)	O
new	O
field	O
interested	O
in	O
finding	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
solutions	I-General_Concept
to	O
the	O
field	O
equations	O
of	O
both	O
special	O
relativity	O
and	O
general	O
relativity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
particle	I-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
deals	O
with	O
problems	O
motivated	O
by	O
particle	O
physics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computational	B-Algorithm
biophysics	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
branch	O
of	O
biophysics	O
and	O
computational	O
biology	O
itself	O
,	O
applying	O
methods	O
of	O
computer	O
science	O
and	O
physics	O
to	O
large	O
complex	O
biological	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
broad	O
class	O
of	O
problems	O
computational	B-Algorithm
physics	I-Algorithm
deals	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
an	O
essential	O
component	O
of	O
modern	O
research	O
in	O
different	O
areas	O
of	O
physics	O
,	O
namely	O
:	O
accelerator	O
physics	O
,	O
astrophysics	O
,	O
general	O
theory	O
of	O
relativity	O
(	O
through	O
numerical	B-Algorithm
relativity	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
fluid	O
mechanics	O
(	O
computational	O
fluid	O
dynamics	O
)	O
,	O
lattice	O
field	O
theory/lattice	O
gauge	O
theory	O
(	O
especially	O
lattice	O
quantum	O
chromodynamics	O
)	O
,	O
plasma	O
physics	O
(	O
see	O
plasma	B-Algorithm
modeling	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
simulating	O
physical	O
systems	O
(	O
using	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
molecular	O
dynamics	O
)	O
,	O
nuclear	B-Application
engineering	I-Application
computer	I-Application
codes	I-Application
,	O
protein	O
structure	O
prediction	O
,	O
weather	O
prediction	O
,	O
solid	O
state	O
physics	O
,	O
soft	O
condensed	O
matter	O
physics	O
,	O
hypervelocity	O
impact	O
physics	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
