The effects of finite precision on the simulation of the double pendulum

Author

Rebecca WildFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Summer 2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Department of Computer Science

Advisor(s)

Michael O. Lam

Abstract

We use mathematics to study physical problems because abstracting the information allows us to better analyze what could happen given any range and combination of parameters. The problem is that for complicated systems mathematical analysis becomes extremely cumbersome. The only effective and reasonable way to study the behavior of such systems is to simulate the event on a computer. However, the fact that the set of floating-point numbers is finite and the fact that they are unevenly distributed over the real number line raises a number of concerns when trying to simulate systems with chaotic behavior. In this research we seek to gain a better understanding of the effects finite precision has on the solution to a chaotic dynamical system, specifically the double pendulum.

Recommended Citation

Wild, Rebecca, "The effects of finite precision on the simulation of the double pendulum" (2019). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 730.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/730