Communications of the ACM
Caltech Scientists Improve Computer Graphics With Quantum Mechanics
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have used the mathematics that govern the universe at the quantum level to simulate large-scale motion.
Credit: Peter Schroder/Caltech
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have used the mathematics that govern the universe at the quantum level to simulate large-scale motion, a development they say could have an impact on computer-generated graphics.
The researchers made some tweaks to the Schrodinger equation, which can be used to describe the motion of superfluids, to approximate fluids at the macroscopic level.
"Since we are computer graphics folks, we are interested in methods that capture the visual variety and drama of fluids well," says Caltech professor Peter Schroder. "What's unique about our method is that we took a page from the quantum mechanics' 'playbook.'"
Schroder says the new technique enables computers to more accurately simulate vorticity, the spinning motion of a flowing fluid.
The team says the approach may be used to model real-world phenomena, such as the curling motion of a hurricane.
"The Schrodinger equation, as we use it, is a close relative of the non-linear Schrodinger equation which is used for the description of superfluids," Schroder notes. "Their vorticity behavior is in many ways very similar to the behavior we can also observe in the macroscopic world."
The researchers presented the technique at the ACM SIGGRAPH 2016 conference in Anaheim, CA.
From Pasadena Now (CA)
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