Teilchensystems

Teilchensystems (German for "particle systems") are frameworks used to model and simulate large numbers of small discrete elements—particles—and their collective behavior. The concept appears in several fields, most notably computer graphics, fluid and aerosol modeling, statistical physics, and crowd simulation. In computer graphics, Teilchensystems generate visually complex phenomena such as fire, smoke, rain, dust, and explosions by evolving many simple particles according to rules for motion, forces, lifetimes, and visual attributes. In physics and engineering, they serve as numerical or conceptual tools for studying granular media, colloids, aerosols, and molecular ensembles.

Typical components of a Teilchensystem include particle state variables (position, velocity, mass, age), emission mechanisms, interaction and external forces (gravity, drag, collisions), integration schemes for time evolution, and rendering or aggregation methods. Interaction may be direct (pairwise forces), statistical (mean-field approximations), or collision-based; computational approaches range from simple Monte Carlo and Lagrangian particle tracking to coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian methods and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH).

Optimizations such as spatial partitioning, level-of-detail, and GPU acceleration help manage performance when simulating millions of particles. Applications span visual effects, virtual reality, scientific visualization, environmental modeling, and real-time simulations in games and training systems. Related topics include agent-based modeling, cellular automata, and continuum fluid dynamics.