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Computational Science Fiction (CSF) - A New Research Area?
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The scientific experiment is of course (and always will be) the
most important tool for obtaining facts about the universe, but sometimes
the cost of setting up an experiment is too large and the scientists are
forced to do computer simulations. Today the art of computer simulation is so
advanced that the results from simulations are almost as good as "the
real ting".
The idea behind CSF is to apply these advanced simulations techniques on
problems arising in the science fiction literature. CSF is NOT science
fiction or fiction, but science applied to very strange phenomena and
ideas (fantasies). CSF
is more than speculation; it can decide whether a SF idea is possible
IN PRINCIPLE or not. 
CSF can best be described by an example: "Ringworld Engineers" by
Larry Niven, was partly inspired by scientists who had (as I understand it)
performed numerical calculations of the stability of Ringworld and 
concluded that the construction would need special "rim motors". 
But where was these results published? Could these scientist find a
journal for their findings? Personally I believe that no "serious" 
scientific journal would accept such articles. Consequently there should
be a forum for publishing such funny and interesting applications of
science. 

Maybe a new newsgroup should be created (yes, I know there is a newsgroup
called rec.arts.sf.science, but I don't think this is what I have in
mind) where people could send their articles (e.g. in LaTeX format or
PostScript code). Such a group must have a moderator who preferably
should find other persons to act as referees for the articles ( i.e.
the same standard procedures as in scientific journals).
Or maybe a book written by several authors should be published to 
initiate interest in the field?

Here is a few other examples of CSF applications:

- Simulations of the gravitational field of an Earth sized torus. 
What are the effects on the atmosphere and the sea level at different 
locations at the surface.
Other strange shapes could also be of interest in such a study.

- Finite-element (FE) methods for investigating the stress and strain in
buildings and structures on planets with different gravity and under
exotic physical conditions (what if the Plack constant is higher ?)

- FE methods for investigations of stress and strain in bodies
of alien beings.
New Scientist a few months ago had an article which discussed the
more scientific side of constructing aliens. In high gravity fields
the aliens should have thick legs and move slowly, etc.

- Analysis of alien body dynamics. This is analogous to dinosaur dynamics
where we want to study how aliens move. Animations should be
available from the investigators.

- Alien population theory. Lets assume strange creatures with strange
habits (like the grendels in "Legacy of Herodot" by Larry Niven) 
and simulate how they interact.

- The physics of ramscoop space vessels. What is the temperature
distribution and the amount of radiation? How large does the shield
have to be in order to avoid cell damage in the astronauts?

- The simulations in Terminator 2 is an example of CSF. Of course
this was for entertainment only, but they managed to visualize how
a robot composed of liquid metal could move. I think
the simulations in T2 used information about fluid mechanics.

It is my personal opinion that the following areas may also be
classified as CSF:

- Simulation of colliding galaxies
- Simulation of the exotic properties of black holes, neutron stars, warped
  space time, etc. 
- Dinosaur dynamics calculation
- War-games 

If you think CSF is a good idea, please send me suggestions to how
to create a forum for publishing CSF stuff. 
I'm especially interested
in contact with people who have actually performed simulations they think
can be defined as CSF and who feel it would be fun to share their 
results with other fellow scientists ....and SF-lovers ;-)


Bj|rn Alsberg
Department of Chemistry
University of Bergen
Allegaten 41
5007 Bergen
Norway
e-mail: alsberg@math.uio.no
phone: +47 5 21 33 67
     : +47 5 29 69 45