Disclosed are techniques for representing and modeling systems in which each system corresponds to an application mode. This may be done for one or more geometries using local and/or non-local couplings. For each application mode, physical quantities are modeled and may be defined using a graphical user interface. Physical properties may be used to model the physical quantities of each system. The physical properties may be defined in terms of numerical values or constants, and mathematical expressions that may include numerical values, space coordinates, time coordinates, and actual physical quantities. Physical quantities and any associated variables may apply to some or all of a geometric domain, and may also be disabled in other parts of a geometrical domain. Partial differential equations describe the physical quantities. One or more application modes may be combined using an automated technique into a combined system of partial differential equations as a multiphysics model.