Timeline of computational mathematics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:44, 22 August 2014

Revision as of 04:46, 22 August 2014

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== 1940s ==

* Monte Carlo simulation (voted one of the top 10 [[algorithm]]s of the 20th century) invented at Los Alamos by von Neumann, Ulam and Metropolis.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Metropolis|first=N.|title=The Beginning of the Monte Carlo method|journal=Los Alamos Science|year=1987|volume=No. 15, Page 125|url=http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?15-12.pdf}}. Accessed 5 may 2012.</ref><ref>S. Ulam, R. D. Richtmyer, and J. von Neumann(1947). [http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00329286.pdf Statistical methods in neutron diffusion]. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory report LAMS–551.</ref><ref>N. Metropolis and S. Ulam (1949). The Monte Carlo method. Journal of the American Statistical Association 44:335-341335–341.</ref>

* First [[Computational Fluid Dynamics|hydro simulations]] at Los Alamos occurred.<ref>Richtmyer, R. D. (1948). Proposed Numerical Method for Calculation of Shocks. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory LA-671.</ref><ref>A Method for the Numerical Calculation of Hydrodynamic Shocks.

Von Neumann, J.; Richtmyer, R. D. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 21, ppp.232-237 232–237</ref>

* Ulam and von Neumann introduce the notion of cellular automata.<ref>Von Neumann, J., Theory of Self-Reproduiing Automata, Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1966.</ref>

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|doi=10.1063/1.1699114

|bibcode = 1953JChPh..21.1087M }}</ref> Also, important earlier independent work by Alder and S. Frankel.<ref>Unfortunately, Alder's thesis advisor was unimpressed, so Alder and Frankel delayed publication of their results until much later. [http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jcp/23/3/10.1063/1.1742004 Alder, B. J. , Frankel, S. P. , and Lewinson, B. A. , J. Chem. Phys., 23, 3 (1955)].</ref><ref>http://www.hp9825.com/html/stan_frankel.html</ref>

* Fermi, Ulam and Pasta with help from [[Mary Tsingou]], discover the [[Fermi-Pasta-UlamFermi–Pasta–Ulam problem]].<ref>Fermi, E. (posthumously); Pasta, J.; Ulam, S. (1955) : [http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/documents/fullText/ACC0041.pdf Studies of Nonlinear Problems (accessed 25 Sep 2012)]. Los Alamos Laboratory Document LA-1940. [http://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall09/cos323/papers/fpu55.pdf Also appeared] in 'Collected Works of Enrico Fermi', E. Segre ed. , [[University of Chicago Press]], Vol.II,978–988,1965. Recovered 21 Dec 2012</ref>

* Molecular dynamics invented by Alder and Wainwright<ref>Alder, B. J.; T. E. Wainwright (1959). "Studies in Molecular Dynamics. I. General Method". J. Chem. Phys. 31 (2): 459. Bibcode 1959JChPh..31..459A. doi:10.1063/1.1730376</ref>

* "[[Equations of State Calculations by Fast Computing Machines]]" introduces the [[Metropolis–Hastings algorithm]].<ref>Metropolis, N.; Rosenbluth, A.W.; Rosenbluth, M.N.; Teller, A.H.; Teller, E. (1953): [http://www.aliquote.org/pub/metropolis-et-al-1953.pdf Equations of State Calculations by Fast Computing Machines] (Retrieved 3 May 2012). Journal of Chemical Physics 21 (6): 1087–1092. Bibcode 1953JChPh..21.1087M. [[doi:10.1063/1.1699114]].</ref>

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|volume=5 |issue=4 |year=1958 |pages=339&ndash;342|doi=10.1145/320941.320947 |mr=0111128}}</ref>

* [[John G.F. Francis]] <ref>

J. G. F. Francis, "The QR Transformation, I", ''The Computer Journal'', vol. 4, no. 3, pages 265-271265–271 (1961, received Oct 1959) [http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/3/265 online at oxfordjournals.org];<br>

J. G. F. Francis, "The QR Transformation, II" ''The Computer Journal'', vol. 4, no. 4, pages 332-345332–345 (1962) [http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/4/332 online at oxfordjournals.org].<br></ref> and [[Vera Kublanovskaya]]<ref>Vera N. Kublanovskaya (1961), "On some algorithms for the solution of the complete eigenvalue problem," USSR Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Physics, 1(3), pages 637–657 (1963, received Feb 1961). Also published in: Zhurnal Vychislitel'noi Matematiki i Matematicheskoi Fiziki [Journal of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Physics], 1(4), pages 555–570 (1961).</ref> invent [[QR factorization]] (voted one of the top 10 algorithms of the 20th century).

== 1960s ==

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* Using computational investigations of the [[3 body problem]], Minovitch formulates the [[gravity assist]] method.<ref>Minovitch, Michael: "A method for determining interplanetary free-fall reconnaissance trajectories," Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technical Memo TM-312-130, pages 38-44 (23 August 1961).</ref><ref>Christopher Riley and Dallas Campbell, Oct 22, 2012. [http://www.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fscience-environment-20033940&ei=j-29UZ6sNIexPInBgfAG&usg=AFQjCNEj30660hWJWTpfDJohrZek5KxAFA "The maths that made Voyager possible"]. BBC News Science and Environment. Recovered 16 Jun 2013.</ref>

* Molecular dynamics was invented independently by [[Aneesur Rahman]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rahman|first=A|title=Correlations in the Motion of Atoms in Liquid Argon|journal=Phys Rev|year=1964|volume=136|issue=2A|pages=A405–A41|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.136.A405|bibcode = 1964PhRv..136..405R }}</ref>

* [[Martin Kruskal|Kruskal]] and [[Norman Zabusky|Zabusky]] follow up the [[Fermi-Pasta-UlamFermi–Pasta–Ulam problem]] with further numerical experiments, and coin the term "soliton".<ref>Zabusky, N. J.; Kruskal, M. D. (1965). "Interaction of 'solitons' in a collisionless plasma and the recurrence of initial states". Phys. Rev. Lett. 15 (6): 240–243. Bibcode 1965PhRvL..15..240Z. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.15.240.</ref><ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soliton ; retrieved 3 nov 2012.</ref>

* [[Edward Lorenz]] discovers the [[butterfly effect]] on a computer, attracting interest in [[chaos theory]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lorenz|first=Edward N.|title=Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow|journal=Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 20 (2): 130–141|year=1963|url=http://www.nd.edu/~powers/ame.60611/lorenz.article.pdf|doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1963)020<0130:DNF>2.0.CO;2|volume=20|issue=2|pages=130|bibcode = 1963JAtS...20..130L }}</ref>

* Frenchman Verlet (re)discovers [[Verlet integration|a numerical integration algorithm]],<ref name="Verlet">{{cite journal

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== 1980s ==

* [[Fast multipole method]] invented by Rokhlin and Greengaard (voted one of the top 10 algorithms of the 20th century).<ref>L. Greengard, The Rapid Evaluation of Potential Fields in Particle Systems, MIT, Cambridge, (1987).</ref><ref>Rokhlin, Vladimir (1985). "Rapid Solution of Integral Equations of Classic Potential Theory." J. Computational Physics Vol. 60, pp. 187-207187–207.</ref><ref>L. Greengard and V. Rokhlin, "A fast algorithm for particle simulations," J. Comput. Phys., 73 (1987), no. 2, pp. 325–348.</ref>

==1990s==

* The appearance of the first research grids using [[volunteer computing]] -– [[GIMPS]] (1996), [[distributed.net]] (1997) and [[Seti@Home]] (1999).

* [[Kepler conjecture]] is [[proof by exhaustion|almost all but certainly proved]] algorithmically by [[Thomas Callister Hales|Thomas Hales]] in 1998.