Optimization Algorithms in Physics

Rating:
Summary: Some new material
Review: Traditionally, physicists haven't used many of the algorithms and ideas in computer science. The reason is simple. Computer science deals mostly with discrete items. Whereas most of physics uses continuum methods. But Hartmann points out in his book that there are indeed several classes of algorithms from computing that might be of utility to some physicists.

Percolation problems for example, are covered in a chapter. He shows how well known ideas from graph theory, like shortest path algorithms, can carry over usefully to attack thresholding in percolation clusters.

One chapter, on Monte Carlo methods, should already be familiar to some physicists. Ideas like simulated annealing came from physics. Plus, the Metropolis-Monte Carlo method was thought up by the well known Los Alamos physicist Nick Metropolis.

Hartmann does a commendable job in educating physicists about such ideas.