Review of Shale Gas Transport Prediction: Basic Theory, Numerical Simulation, Application of AI Methods, and Perspectives

Nowadays, computer simulations have become a standard tool in essentially all fields of chemistry, condensed matter physics, and materials science. In order to keep up with state-of-the-art experiments and the ever growing complexity of the investigated problems, there is a constantly increasing need for simulations of more realistic, i.e., larger, model systems with improved accuracy. In many cases, the availability of sufficiently efficient interatomic potentials providing reliable energies and forces has become a serious bottleneck for performing these simulations. To address this problem, currently a paradigm change is taking place in the development of interatomic potentials. Since the early days of computer simulations simplified potentials have been derived using physical approximations whenever the direct application of electronic structure methods has been too demanding. Recent advances in machine learning (ML) now offer an alternative approach for the representation of potential-energy surfaces by fitting large data sets from electronic structure calculations. In this perspective, the central ideas underlying these ML potentials, solved problems and remaining challenges are reviewed along with a discussion of their current applicability and limitations.

The field of fluid mechanics is rapidly advancing, driven by unprecedented volumes of data from experiments, field measurements, and large-scale simulations at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Machine learning (ML) offers a wealth of techniques to extract information from data that can be translated into knowledge about the underlying fluid mechanics. Moreover, ML algorithms can augment domain knowledge and automate tasks related to flow control and optimization. This article presents an overview of past history, current developments, and emerging opportunities of ML for fluid mechanics. We outline fundamental ML methodologies and discuss their uses for understanding, modeling, optimizing, and controlling fluid flows. The strengths and limitations of these methods are addressed from the perspective of scientific inquiry that considers data as an inherent part of modeling, experiments, and simulations. ML provides a powerful information-processing framework that can augment, and possibly even transform, current lines of fluid mechanics research and industrial applications.