[comp.simulation] SIMULATION DIGEST V6 N8

simulation@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu (Moderator: Paul Fishwick) (11/29/88)

Volume: 6, Issue: 8, Tue Nov 29 09:12:10 EST 1988

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| TODAY'S TOPICS |
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(1) Course in Dynamical Systems
(2) DESIRE Software and Book for Dynamic Systems
(3) Query: Distributed Process Simulation

* Moderator: Paul Fishwick, Univ. of Florida
* Send topical mail to: simulation@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu
* Archives available via FTP to bikini.cis.ufl.edu, login as
  'anonymous', use your last name as the password, change
  directory to pub/simdigest.



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Date: Thu, 24 Nov 88 20:50:32 EST
From: Paul Fishwick <fishwick@fish.cis.ufl.edu>
To: simulation@ufl.edu


[[taken from group 'comp.theory.dynamic-sys' -paf]]


>From: vu0112@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Cliff Joslyn)
Newsgroups: comp.theory.dynamic-sys,comp.theory.self-org-sys,sci.philosophy.tech,sci.math,sci.research,sci.misc
Subject: Course in Dynamic Systems
Keywords: software, topics, texts, references
Date: 22 Nov 88 03:55:44 GMT
Organization: SUNY Binghamton, NY
Xref: uflorida comp.theory.dynamic-sys:136 comp.theory.self-org-sys:59 sci.philosophy.tech:421 sci.math:3231 sci.research:363 sci.misc:2767


Greetings.

We here at SUNY Systems Science are in the process of designing an
independent study program in dynamic systems theory and related topics. 
We want to provide a strong foundation for mathematically literate (i.e. 
competent in multivariate calculus and diff.  eqs.) grad students, and
to provide them with the basis to explore further topics on their own. 
I thought that I would let the net know what we were thinking about and
ask for reaction and suggestions.  We need good references to texts,
fundamental works, and especially SOFTWARE. 

WARNING: If I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't be taking the
course.  Consider the following as being written in the context of much
ignorance.  We want as much input as possible as to what to add, delete,
or move around.


1. STRUCTURE

The course will be an Independent Study program of 3-4 students, one
faculty in attendance, and one faculty coordinating.  The faculty will
provide some preliminary direction on common materials, but then the
students will be expected to work independantly and to bring in external
reading and subjects.  We will meet 2 hrs/wk through next semester. 


2. CORE TOPICS AND TEXT

Primary text: 
	Edward Beltrami, _Mathematics for Dynamic Modeling_.  

Supplemental texts: 
	Abraham and Shaw, _Dynamics: the Geometry of Behavior_, vols.
	1-3.

	Thompson and Stewart, _Non-Linear Dynamics and Chaos_

Topics: 
	Linear and non-linear ODEs, phase space, bifurcations,
	transitions to chaos, strange attractors, Lypaenov (spelling?)
	exponents, Feigenbaum's constant. 


3. SUPPLEMENTARY TOPICS AND REFERENCES

The following are subjects closely related to the core areas, and are
open season to students: 
	invariant measures, scale dependencies, entropies, fractal 
	dimensions, phase changes, dissipative structures,
	catastrophe theory.

Of primary importance to me personally is theories of self-organization. 

References: I have a lot more than the following in my bibliography, but
what I have listed here is my impression on what the most fundamental
material might be.  Please, we need help here, for both inserting and
deleting items:

	M. Eigen on Hypercycles

	Haken, _Synergetics_

	Ilya Prigogine, _From Being to Becoming_

	Ilya Prigogine and G. Nicolis, _Self-Organization in
		Non-Equilibrium Systems_

	Alan Wolf, "Simplicity and Universality in Transitions to
		Chaos", _Nature_, v. 305

	J Doyne Farmer, "The Dimension of Chaotic Attractors", Physica
		D, 1983

	EC Zeeman, _Catastrophe Theory_



4. SOFTWARE

Our possible hardware environments are PC/AT's w/EGA or Suns.  

Requirements:
	ODE solutions, trajectories, phase space projections, 
	bifurcation diagrams.

Desired:
	Decent user interface, plot from data imported from text files, 
	generality, speed, resolution.

Price and Licensing:
	Not so sure here.  We can probably get a few hundred bucks
	together, and obviously academic discounts and liberal licensing
	are preferred.

The following are packages that we're aware of.  I'm sure there are many
more out there:

	DS-I, Dynamical Systems Inc., $250, lots a groovy stuff.

	* This seems like the best bet:
	DS-II, Dynamical Systems Inc., $350, more groovy stuff.

	DYNASIM, ODE integrator, companion to Abraham and Shaw

	DYNAMO, plots one trajectory


Thanks a lot.


O---------------------------------------------------------------------->
| Cliff Joslyn, Cybernetician at Large
| Systems Science, SUNY Binghamton, vu0112@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
V All the world is biscuit shaped. . .





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To: comp-simulation@ufl.edu
Path: uflorida!fish.cis.ufl.edu!fishwick
From: fishwick@fish.cis.ufl.edu (Paul Fishwick)
Newsgroups: comp.simulation,comp.theory.dynamic-sys
Subject: Dynamical Systems Software...
Date: 28 Nov 88 00:58:22 GMT
Sender: news@bikini.cis.ufl.edu
Reply-To: fishwick@fish.cis.ufl.edu ()
Organization: UF CIS Department



Referring to the article requesting dynamics software by Cliff Joslyn:

>4. SOFTWARE
>Our possible hardware environments are PC/AT's w/EGA or Suns.  

I suggest that you look into the package DESIRE if you are looking for
something inexpensive which is a truly powerful ODE package for an
IBM PC. I am teaching my advanced simulation course next semester and
I am using "Interactive Dynamic System Simulation" by Granino Korn, for
the 'continuous' part of the course - there is a combination, shrink-
wrapped version ISBN 0-07-852261-7 (book and disk) from McGraw Hill.
MAKE SURE to ask for the "Professional Series" book division -- the
normal textbook division did not know about it. It is brand new: 1989
copyright. A caveat: It is not a textbook (no exercises) but it seems 
much more than a user's manual for DESIRE. I intend to lecture concepts, 
theory, and methodology in class (from other books - your choice of Beltrami
seems a good one) and then have give assignments that use DESIRE.
Hopefully, this will give the students the right blend of theory and
practice.

>Requirements:
>	ODE solutions, trajectories, phase space projections, 
>	bifurcation diagrams.

DESIRE can handle all of these very nicely. There are no special facilities
for 'zooming' on iteratively defined sets such as Julia, Mandelbrot,etc.
but the 'plot' function can be easily rigged for plotting in real or
complex space. NOTE: the book version of the software is complete DESIRE
EXCEPT for a limit of 5 first order DE's (which should not be a problem
for many demonstrable systems), and a limit on the array size for FFT.
DESIRE handles general matrix operations, convolution, FFT in addition
to DE's.

>Desired:
>	Decent user interface, plot from data imported from text files, 
>	generality, speed, resolution.

I am very impressed by the speed and it is very interactive. Parameter
adjustments are easily done without re-compiling. It is an extremely
easy to use and flexible system. Here is an example non-linear system
(Lorenz System) set up for an XY plane view - note the ease of writing 
the equations:

 DT=.01 |  TMAX=50.0 |  NN=5000
 x=2 |  y=2 |  z=2 |  scale=30
 drun 
 DYNAMIC 
 d/dt x=10*(y-x) |  d/dt y=x*(28-z)-y |  d/dt z=x*y-2.67*z
 dispxy x,y |  -- display XY plane


>Price and Licensing:
>	Not so sure here.  We can probably get a few hundred bucks
>	together, and obviously academic discounts and liberal licensing
>	are preferred.

If the student buys the book/disk (which I think is around $40) then
you're set! Hope this helps --- I'd also like to hear from others about
their packages for both continuous and discrete systems simulation.

-paul

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Prof. Paul A. Fishwick.... INTERNET: fishwick@bikini.cis.ufl.edu       |
| Dept. of Computer Science. UUCP: gatech!uflorida!fishwick              |
| Univ. of Florida.......... PHONE: (904)-335-8036                       |
| Bldg. CSE, Room 301....... FAX is available                            |
| Gainesville, FL 32611.....                                             |
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------------------------------

To: comp-simulation@husc6.harvard.edu
Path: husc6!endor!tam
From: tam%endor@husc6.harvard.edu (Va-On Tam)
Newsgroups: comp.simulation
Subject: SIMULA
Keywords: SIMULA
Date: 29 Nov 88 00:19:05 GMT
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Reply-To: tam%endor@husc6.harvard.edu (Va-On Tam)
Organization: Harvard University


Hi there,

I am looking for a package to run some simulations.
The simulations will model a bunch of distributed processes
communicating via messages. 

Would anyone suggest any simulation language that would run
on Sun3 or Sun4?  Does anymore hear about SIMULA?  It seems
not very widely used in U.S.  Where can I get a compiler for it?

Many thanks.  As I don't subscribe to this newsgroup, please reply 
to me directly at:

		tam@harvard.harvard.edu

Va-On Tam




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