{{Short description|Mathematical model of a complex system}} {{for|mathematical models of computers|Model of computation}}
A '''computational model''' uses computers to simulate and study complex systems<ref name="nibib">{{Cite web |title=Computational Modeling |url=https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/computational-modeling |date=May 2020 |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering |language=en}}</ref> in various fields of computational science, spanning from physics,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Computational Modelling in Space Physics |url=https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/39950/computational-modelling-in-space-physics |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=Frontiers Research Topic |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627140510/https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/39950/computational-modelling-in-space-physics |archive-date= 2023-06-27 }}</ref> engineering,<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Computational Engineering? |url=https://www.ae.utexas.edu/undergraduate/computational-undergrad-program/what-is-computational-engineering |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=Dept of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics - Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin }}</ref> chemistry<ref>{{cite book |last1=Amarante |first1=A.M. |last2=Oliveira |first2=G.S. |last3=Ierich |first3=J.C.M. |last4=Cunha |first4=R.A. |last5=Freitas |first5=L.C.G. |last6=Franca |first6=E.F. |last7=De Lima Leite |first7=F. |title=Nanoscience and its Applications |chapter=Molecular Modeling Applied to Nanobiosystems |date=2017 |pages=179–220 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-323-49780-0.00007-7 |isbn=978-0-323-49780-0 }}</ref> and biology<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-14 |title=Computational Modeling in Developmental Biology |url=https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/Computational-Modeling-in-Developmental-Biology.aspx |first1=Reginald |last1=Davey |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=News-Medical.net |language=en}}</ref> to economics, psychology, cognitive science and computer science.<ref name="nibib"/>
The system under study is often a complex nonlinear system<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grubb |first1=Amanda L. |last2=Moushegian |first2=Alex |last3=Heathcote |first3=Daniel J. |last4=Smith |first4=Marilyn J. |title=AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum |chapter=Physics and Computational Modeling of Nonlinear Transverse Gust Encounters |date=2020 |doi=10.2514/6.2020-0080 |isbn=978-1-62410-595-1 }}</ref> for which simple, intuitive analytical solutions are not readily available. Rather than deriving a mathematical analytical solution to the problem, experimentation with the model is done by adjusting the parameters of the system in the computer, and studying the differences in the outcome of the experiments.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Computational models - Latest research and news |url=https://www.nature.com/subjects/computational-models|access-date=2021-04-08|website=Nature }}</ref> Operation theories of the model can be derived/deduced from these computational experiments.
Examples of common computational models are weather forecasting models, earth simulator models, flight simulator models, virtual cells, molecular protein folding models, computational materials models<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1016/j.cma.2025.117986 |last1=Fu|first1=Jinlong |last2=Tan|first2=Wei| title = Stochastic reconstruction of multiphase composite microstructures using statistics-encoded neural network for poro/micro-mechanical modelling | journal=Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering | year=2025|volume=441 |article-number=117986|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1016/j.cma.2023.116049 |last1=Fu|first1=Jinlong |last2=Wang|first2=Min|last3=Xiao|first3=Dunhui|last4=Zhong|first4=Shan|last5=Ge|first5=Xiangyun|last6=Wu|first6=Minglu| title = Hierarchical reconstruction of 3D well-connected porous media from 2D exemplars using statistics-informed neural network | journal=Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering | year=2023|volume=410 |article-number=116049}}</ref> Computational Engineering Models (CEM),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Computational Modelling in Engineering |url=https://www.fer.unizg.hr/en/studies/cro/master/fer3/computing/cme |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing |language=en}}</ref> and neural network models.
== See also == * Computational engineering * Computational cognition * Reversible computing * Agent-based model * Artificial neural network * Computational linguistics * Data-driven model * Decision field theory * Dynamical systems model of cognition * Membrane computing * Ontology (information science) * Programming language theory * Microscale and macroscale models
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Models of computation Category:Mathematical modeling