Biaxial nematic (N(b)) liquid crystals are a fascinating condensed matter phase that has baffled, for more than thirty years, scientists engaged in the challenge of demonstrating its actual existence, and which has only recently been experimentally found. During this period computer simulations of model N(b) have played an important role, both in providing the basic physical properties to be ex...

This paper investigates major properties of abstract competition, which deals with competition in its most generic form and is not necessarily directly related to competition that can be observed in biological, economic or other realistic systems. Generic properties of competing systems are investigated theoretically and computationally and major results are summarized in the present paper.

Macromolecules, or in the most simple version chain molecules of a given length posed and still pose a significant challenge to theoretical physics and chemistry. The computational materials science emerging from this is a growing and exciting field of science. Despite remarkable progress over many years, which is well documented in many research papers and several reviews, only (few) rather si...

In this paper, I offer an inferential conception of computer simulations, emphasizing the role that simulations play as inferential devices to represent empirical phenomena. Three steps are involved in a simulation: an immersion step (from aspects of the empirical set up to the simulated model), a derivation step (that yields the relevant results), and an interpretation and correction step (tha...

In this brief contribution to the Proceedings of the NATO-ASI on " Electrostatic Effects in Soft Matter and Biophysics " [1], which took place in Les Houches from Oct. 1-13, 2000, we summarize in short aspects of the simulations methods to study charged systems. After describing some basics of Monte Carlo and Molecular dynamics techniques, we describe a few methods to compute long range interac...