Digital Twins

Description

A digital twin (DT) is a computational model of a physical system that continually updates its knowledge of the system by assimilating observational data to reduce uncertainties and improve predictions of the model, which in turn is used as a basis to inform decisions and optimally control the system to achieve a desired goal. The cycle of data assimilation and decision/control repeats over a continually evolving time horizon. Interest in DTs has intensified significantly in recent years in many areas of science, engineering, technology, health, finance, social systems, and beyond, driven by their potential to transform the role of models and data in decision-making for complex systems.

At the same time, DTs present significant mathematical, statistical, and computational challenges. This stems from the enormous complexity and scale of models describing many natural and engineered systems, the numerous uncertainties that underlie them, the complexity of observing systems and indirect and multimodal nature of the data they produce, the need to execute rapidly enough to support decisions and controls in time scales relevant to the physical system, and the critical societal impact of model-based decision making.

The long program will elucidate the mathematical, statistical, and computational challenges presented by DTs, explore avenues for overcoming them, and discuss state of the art applications to problems arising in complex systems in science, engineering, technology, medicine, and beyond. Events include an opening tutorial on data assimilation, three workshops on foundational components of DTs—data assimilation and inverse problems, optimal control and decision making under uncertainty, reduced order and surrogate models—and a final workshop integrating these components to address applications of digital twins in complex systems.

Program Workshops

Application

Applications received by January 10, 2025 will have the first priority for consideration.