INCF lectures: Marc-Oliver Gewaltig

https://training.incf.org/lesson/introduction-workflows-model-simulation

6 flashcards · Biology · by lakesare

1. What's a free parameter?

   A variable you got to find by tuning in order to make the model match the experiment. Must be estimated experimentally or theoretically.E.g., the ideal gas equation is: PV = nRT,where P-pressure, V-volume, n-material coeff, T-temperature, and R = 8.314 J/(K*mol) is a free parameter. A mathematical model, theory, or conjecture is more likely to be right and less likely to be the product of wishful thinking if it relies on few free parameters and is consistent with large amounts of data.

2. A pragmatic definition of a model is f(X, β) = Y. What's X, β, Y?

   X - independent vars β - parameters Y - dependent vars

3. What's a random walk?

   We start from $0. We toss a coin: if it's head - you get +$1 if it's tails - you get -$1 An elementary example of a random walk is the random walk on the integer number line Z, which starts at 0 and at each step moves +1 or −1 with equal probability.

4. What is the optimal amount of underfitting or overfitting?

5. Which line is underfit, and which is overfit given our data points?

   Straight - underfit, curvey - overfit.

6. Computer model VS computer simulation?

   Computer model - algorithms and equations used to capture the behaviour of the model. Computer simulation - actual running of the program containing these equations.