Place: Room 621, GP South (Building 78)

Time: Thursday 11th May, 10:30 morning Tea, 11:00am seminar

Title: Is your model susceptible to floating-point errors?

Speaker: Luis R. Izquierdo

Abstract:
Floating-point arithmetic is a subject all too often ignored; yet, for computational models of complex systems in particular, it has the potential to create misleading results, and even to influence emergent outcomes of the model.

In this seminar I will highlight the features of computational models that make them especially vulnerable to floating-point errors. I will also suggest ways in which the impact of such errors can be mitigated. My intention is to focus on small floating-point errors because these are most likely to occur, whilst still potentially having a major influence on the outcome of the model. The significance of small floating-point errors in computer models can often be reduced by applying a range of different techniques to different parts of the code. In the seminar I will briefly compare a number of techniques that can be used to address these errors.

Luis R. Izquierdo
Agent Based Simulation Modeller
The Macaulay Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
UK
Tel: +(44) (0) 1224 498200 Ext 2230
Fax: +(44) (0) 1224 311556
e-mail: l.izquierdo@macaulay.ac.uk
www.macaulay.ac.uk, www.macaulay.ac.uk/fearlus/ 

(Biographical details at www.luis.izquierdo.name/)

Dr. Ariel Liebman
Research Fellow
ARC Centre for Complex Systems
School of ITEE, University of Queensland
email: a.liebman@uq.edu.au
tel: +61-7-3365-1623
mobile: +61-(0)414-226-336
room: 78-414, GP South, St Lucia Campus
web: www.accs.uq.edu.au