Multiscale Computational Materials Science

Abstract

One might wonder why one does not derive all physical behavior ofmatter from an as small as possible set of fundamental equations,e.g. the Dirac equation of relativistic quantum theory. However,the quest for the fundamental principles of physics is not yet finished;thus, the appropriate starting point for such a strategy still remainsunclear. But even if we knew all fundamental laws of nature, thereis another reason, why this strategy does not work for ultimatelypredicting the behavior of matter on any length scale, and this reasonis the growing complexity of fundamental theories — based on thedynamics of particles — when they are applied to systems of macroscopic(or even microscopic) dimensions.