Physicists have been at the cutting edge of software development for as long as there has been software. It is surely no coincidence that two of the biggest names in computing today -- Tim Berners-Lee and Stephen Wolfram -- are both physicists. This supplement to Physics World highlights some of the latest developments in software from the mind-boggling demands of the latest particle-physics experiments to the simulation of materials from first principles based on quantum theory.
The challenges are not restricted to basic research. Elsewhere you can read about the use of software for applications in medical physics and in the design of new optical components for the fibre communications industry. Recent years have also seen a tremendous improvement in the IT facilities available to school pupils and university students, and the supplement describes a scheme that has been commended for "best practice" in helping educational establishments get best value from software licences.
With the physics community leading the way in the development of the Grid -- the next generation of the Web -- the involvement of physicists in the future of software seems assured.
Contents
Software serves medical physicists
Creating systems to improve treatment planning in radiotherapy places specific demands on software, as researchers from North Western Medical Physics in Manchester explain
Software simulates materials from first principles
Computer codes can now model the behaviour of materials using first-principles quantum-mechanical calculations, as the Cavendish Lab's Gábor Csányi and Chris J Pickard report
High-energy challenges for software
It requires a large number of different software systems to do experiments in particle physics, as Richard P Mount of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center makes clear
Chest ensures value for money for universities
A licensing service for academic institutions in the UK has cut the cost of software for both universities and suppliers, as Nikki Green from Eduserv Chest explains
Broadband drives developments in telecoms industry
Packages that rely on finite element modelling are essential in the design of new optical components, as Serge Bidnyk from Enablence Inc highlights
It pays to adopt a natural approach
The learning curve may be steep, but Mathematica is fun to use according to Paul Abbott of the University of Western Australia