The code demonstrated here is an ab-initio method, requiring no input parameters and calculating the quantum mechanical interactions within the local density approximation in the crystal solid. The acoustic wave propagation code simulates how sound travels through a geological formation for seismic analysis. A seismic shot is simulated as sound passes from the sound source through the complex 3D geological model to one or more receivers. Industrial seismic analysis codes can then be calibrated to reconstruct the underground model from just the sound source and receiver data.
Typical reconstructions require thousands of shots.
Visualization helps scientists see the sound waves and detect anomalous behavior. Viewing the motion of dislocations in a material allows a material scientist to understand at a fundamental level why a material behaves in a certain way and how to improve a material's properties, for example, by substituting an alloy component with a different chemical species or by simply adjusting the concentration of the original alloy species. With powerful parallel computers networked to virtual environments, mathematicians can explore previously inaccessible problems in geometry, especially where a complex object evolves so as to optimize its shape. For instance, an unknotted loop of string, no matter how tangled, can be persuaded to move automatically and without breaking into a round circle. In four dimensions, a surface such as a topological sphere may be knotted.