An Introduction to the N-Body Problem
with computer simulation codes in C++

This is the old (2003) version of:
The Art of Computational Science

[To go to the new version, click on
web pages or pdf file ]


© 2003-2004 Piet Hut and Jun Makino Back to ACS home page.
The Art of Computational Science series will provide a student with a hands-on guide to building a computational laboratory, and doing state-of-the-art research with it. The series will be self-contained: a high-school student should be able to start at page 1, and work her way through the series. [more . . .]

Our aim is to break down the barrier between research and education. From an educational point of view, our approach is unusual in that we lead a student along the shortest path from an elementary introduction to the cutting edge of research. And from a research point of view, we illustrate how extensive documentation is beneficial for a research project. [more . . .]

We have coined the term Variational Programming to describe our prefered approach to programming: to follow a path of least action. The name is borrow from physics, where Hamilton's variational principle states that a physical trajectory of a particle is given by a path along which the action is minimal. [more . . .]

Our book series explores a new approach to both research and education in computational science, bringing out simultaneously the science, arts and crafts aspects of research in the form of an the educational offering. The whole series, together with the corresponding software, will be presented on the web as an open source project. [more . . .]

Our plan is to generate ten volumes, hopefully by 2015 or thereabouts. Our first product, below, is a draft version of what will expand into the first three volumes of our series. Given its short size, less than 300 pages, it is not yet self-contained. However, it offers a student the ability to get started, with relatively little need to consult other sources.

It is available in three versions:

The original version was written in LaTeX, and therefore the (almost automatic) translation to HTML pages, while acceptable, is not as pretty as the pdf and ps files.

Here are the program examples given in our book:

Here are some additional codes, provided by readers of Moving Stars Around:

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