An Evolver Program for Weighted Steiner Trees

Lab experiments are a valuable resource to observe natural laws in practice. However, complex experiments are time-consuming and require expensive equipment to be carried out. Sometimes they cannot be performed at all, as in the case of phenomena in non-Euclidean spaces. Then virtual simulation comes into play, and here we chose the software Evolver to observe the fascinating example of how a soap film detaches from connected pins towards a stable configuration. Here this physical experiment is totally conducted in a virtual environment, and our model allows for adding complexity or even adaptation to further developments. Our strategies follow some basic results in mathematics and Evolver programming language, but we spare the reader from most of the technicalities. The text is richly illustrated, which makes it accessible to academics. This book will inspire them to develop their own virtual experiments and keep lively the motivation for mathematics, physics and programming.