A practical guide to computer simulations

Here practical aspects of conducting research via computer simulations are discussed. The following issues are addressed: software engineering, object-oriented software development, programming style, macros, make files, scripts, libraries, random numbers, testing, debugging, data plotting, curve fitting, finite-size scaling, information retrieval, and preparing presentations. Because of the limited space, usually only short introductions to the specific areas are given and references to more extensive literature are cited. All examples of code are in C/C++.Comment: 69 pages, with permission of Wiley-VCH, see http://www.wiley-vch.de (some screenshots with poor quality due to arXiv size restrictions) A comprehensively extended version will appear in spring 2009 as book at Word-Scientific, see http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/6988.htm

Preprints as an alternative to conference proceedings: A hands-on experience at EDICIC Iberian Meeting 2019

This article investigated a novel method of disseminating conference proceedings via preprint servers. The EDICIC 2019 conference encouraged presenters to upload their research onto preprint servers before the conference and did not produce a conference proceedings. The objective of this was to facilitate pre-conference dissemination of the research and use the conference for debate. Authors could then submit their articles to a journal. A survey of participating authors shows that they had little familiarity with preprints prior to the conference. Nevertheless, nearly three-quarters of authors deposited their preprints before the conference. Most respondents were in favour or pre-conference deposit and believed it would allow conferences to run more smoothly. However there was concern that Library and Information Science journals will not accept submissions that have been issued as preprints. Authors also expressed concerns about the lack of recognition for their research if conference proceedings are not published. They highlighted the effort required to pass a double evaluation by conference organizers and then by journal editors, emphasized that the culture of preprints and open science is not consolidated in the discipline yet, and noted that the aim of increasing interaction and debate in the conference was not fully reached

Designing Normative Theories for Ethical and Legal Reasoning: LogiKEy Framework, Methodology, and Tool Support

A framework and methodology---termed LogiKEy---for the design and engineering of ethical reasoners, normative theories and deontic logics is presented. The overall motivation is the development of suitable means for the control and governance of intelligent autonomous systems. LogiKEy's unifying formal framework is based on semantical embeddings of deontic logics, logic combinations and ethico-legal domain theories in expressive classic higher-order logic (HOL). This meta-logical approach enables the provision of powerful tool support in LogiKEy: off-the-shelf theorem provers and model finders for HOL are assisting the LogiKEy designer of ethical intelligent agents to flexibly experiment with underlying logics and their combinations, with ethico-legal domain theories, and with concrete examples---all at the same time. Continuous improvements of these off-the-shelf provers, without further ado, leverage the reasoning performance in LogiKEy. Case studies, in which the LogiKEy framework and methodology has been applied and tested, give evidence that HOL's undecidability often does not hinder efficient experimentation.Comment: 50 pages; 10 figure