Final Activity Report Summary - VERTEX GRAVITY (Gravitating vertex models)
The project was aimed at investigating how moving from regular structures, like those seen in crystals, to irregular structures such as those seen in other substances like glass affected the behaviour of matter. The techniques used to model such systems on computers can also be used to attempt to construct simplified models of gravitation that are suitable for computer simulation. In the latter case the interest is to see if order on larger scales can emerge from a much more chaotic picture at very small scales. Such investigations might hope to reveal why, for instance, we have "an arrow of time".
During the course of the fellowship some very effective computer algorithms were developed for simulating such irregular systems and novel behaviour discovered in several cases, particularly so-called anti-ferromagnets where atoms want to be different from their immediate neighbours. A totally unexpected development was the application of the methods employed in the research to understanding (not predicting!) the distribution of football scores in various leagues and tournaments.
During the course of the fellowship some very effective computer algorithms were developed for simulating such irregular systems and novel behaviour discovered in several cases, particularly so-called anti-ferromagnets where atoms want to be different from their immediate neighbours. A totally unexpected development was the application of the methods employed in the research to understanding (not predicting!) the distribution of football scores in various leagues and tournaments.