Dirac 2.5 Operations
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Physicists across the astronomy, nuclear and particle physics communities are focussed
on understanding how the Universe works at a very fundamental level. The distance scales
with which they work vary by 50 orders of magnitude from the smallest distances probed
by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, deep within the atomic
nucleus, to the largest scale galaxy clusters discovered out in space. The Science challenges,
however, are linked through questions such as: How did the Universe begin and how is it evolving?
and What are the fundamental constituents and fabric of the Universe and how do they interact?
Progress requires new astronomical observations and experimental data but also
new theoretical insights. Theoretical understanding comes increasingly from large-scale
computations that allow us to confront the consequences of our theories very accurately
with the data or allow us to interrogate the data in detail to extract information that has
impact on our theories. These computations test the fastest computers that we have and
push the boundaries of technology in this sector. They also provide an excellent
environment for training students in state-of-the-art techniques for code optimisation and
data mining and visualisation.
The DiRAC-2.5 project builds on the success of the DiRAC HPC facility and will provide the resources needed
to support cutting edge research during 2017 in all areas of science supported by STFC.
DiRAC-2.5 will provide maintain the existing DiRAC-2 services from April 2017, and also provide and increase in computational
resources at Durham, Cambridge and Leicester.
This grant will support the operation of the Edinburgh DiRAC services, which presently comprise
98384 operational computing cores serving around 80% of DiRAC computing cycles. The system is made up
from both the original 1.26PFlop/s DiRAC BlueGene/Q system and, following a recent transfer
to Edinburgh by STFC, six racks of the Hartree BlueJoule supercomputer.
The DiRAC project also will offer a team of three research software engineers who will help DiRAC researchers to ensure their scientific codes to extract
the best possible performance from the hardware components of the DiRAC clusters. These highly skilled programmers will
increase the effective computational power of the DiRAC facility during 2017.
on understanding how the Universe works at a very fundamental level. The distance scales
with which they work vary by 50 orders of magnitude from the smallest distances probed
by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, deep within the atomic
nucleus, to the largest scale galaxy clusters discovered out in space. The Science challenges,
however, are linked through questions such as: How did the Universe begin and how is it evolving?
and What are the fundamental constituents and fabric of the Universe and how do they interact?
Progress requires new astronomical observations and experimental data but also
new theoretical insights. Theoretical understanding comes increasingly from large-scale
computations that allow us to confront the consequences of our theories very accurately
with the data or allow us to interrogate the data in detail to extract information that has
impact on our theories. These computations test the fastest computers that we have and
push the boundaries of technology in this sector. They also provide an excellent
environment for training students in state-of-the-art techniques for code optimisation and
data mining and visualisation.
The DiRAC-2.5 project builds on the success of the DiRAC HPC facility and will provide the resources needed
to support cutting edge research during 2017 in all areas of science supported by STFC.
DiRAC-2.5 will provide maintain the existing DiRAC-2 services from April 2017, and also provide and increase in computational
resources at Durham, Cambridge and Leicester.
This grant will support the operation of the Edinburgh DiRAC services, which presently comprise
98384 operational computing cores serving around 80% of DiRAC computing cycles. The system is made up
from both the original 1.26PFlop/s DiRAC BlueGene/Q system and, following a recent transfer
to Edinburgh by STFC, six racks of the Hartree BlueJoule supercomputer.
The DiRAC project also will offer a team of three research software engineers who will help DiRAC researchers to ensure their scientific codes to extract
the best possible performance from the hardware components of the DiRAC clusters. These highly skilled programmers will
increase the effective computational power of the DiRAC facility during 2017.
Planned Impact
The expected impact of the DiRAC 2.5 HPC facility is fully described in the attached pathways to impact document and includes:
1) Disseminating best practice in High Performance Computing software engineering throughout the theoretical Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear physics communities in the UK as well as to industry partners.
2) Working on co-design projects with industry partners to improve future generations of hardware and software.
3) Development of new techniques in the area of High Performance Data Analytics which will benefit industry partners and researchers in other fields such as biomedicine, biology, engineering, economics and social science, and the natural environment who can use this new technology to improve research outcomes in their areas.
4) Share best practice on the design and operation of distributed HPC facilities with UK National e-Infrastructure partners.
5) Training of the next generation of research scientists of physical scientists to tackle problems effectively on state-of-the-art of High Performance Computing facilities. Such skills are much in demand from high-tech industry.
6) Engagement with the general public to promote interest in science, and to explain how our ability to solve complex problems using the latest computer technology leads to new scientific capabilities/insights. Engagement of this kind also naturally encourages the uptake of STEM subjects in schools.
1) Disseminating best practice in High Performance Computing software engineering throughout the theoretical Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear physics communities in the UK as well as to industry partners.
2) Working on co-design projects with industry partners to improve future generations of hardware and software.
3) Development of new techniques in the area of High Performance Data Analytics which will benefit industry partners and researchers in other fields such as biomedicine, biology, engineering, economics and social science, and the natural environment who can use this new technology to improve research outcomes in their areas.
4) Share best practice on the design and operation of distributed HPC facilities with UK National e-Infrastructure partners.
5) Training of the next generation of research scientists of physical scientists to tackle problems effectively on state-of-the-art of High Performance Computing facilities. Such skills are much in demand from high-tech industry.
6) Engagement with the general public to promote interest in science, and to explain how our ability to solve complex problems using the latest computer technology leads to new scientific capabilities/insights. Engagement of this kind also naturally encourages the uptake of STEM subjects in schools.
Publications
Du M
(2019)
The Formation of Compact Elliptical Galaxies in the Vicinity of a Massive Galaxy: The Role of Ram-pressure Confinement
in The Astrophysical Journal
Duguid C
(2020)
Convective turbulent viscosity acting on equilibrium tidal flows: new frequency scaling of the effective viscosity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duguid C
(2019)
Tidal flows with convection: frequency-dependence of the effective viscosity and evidence for anti-dissipation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dutta R
(2021)
Metal-enriched halo gas across galaxy overdensities over the last 10 billion years
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dutta R
(2020)
MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) - II: metal-enriched halo gas around z ~ 1 galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dymott R
(2023)
Linear and non-linear properties of the Goldreich-Schubert-Fricke instability in stellar interiors with arbitrary local radial and latitudinal differential rotation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Eager-Nash J
(2020)
Implications of different stellar spectra for the climate of tidally locked Earth-like exoplanets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Edelmann P
(2019)
Three-dimensional Simulations of Massive Stars. I. Wave Generation and Propagation
in The Astrophysical Journal
Edwards B
(2024)
Measuring Tracers of Planet Formation in the Atmosphere of WASP-77A b: Substellar O/H and C/H Ratios, with a Stellar C/O Ratio and a Potentially Superstellar Ti/H Ratio
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Edwards B
(2023)
Characterizing a World Within the Hot-Neptune Desert: Transit Observations of LTT 9779 b with the Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3
in The Astronomical Journal
Edwards B
(2020)
ARES I: WASP-76 b, A Tale of Two HST Spectra*
in The Astronomical Journal
Edwards B
(2020)
Hubble WFC3 Spectroscopy of the Habitable-zone Super-Earth LHS 1140 b
in The Astronomical Journal
Edwards B
(2023)
Exploring the Ability of Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 G141 to Uncover Trends in Populations of Exoplanet Atmospheres through a Homogeneous Transmission Survey of 70 Gaseous Planets
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Eilers A
(2019)
Anomaly in the Opacity of the Post-reionization Intergalactic Medium in the Ly a and Ly ß Forest
in The Astrophysical Journal
Eke V
(2020)
Understanding the large inferred Einstein radii of observed low-mass galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elbakyan V
(2023)
Episodic accretion and mergers during growth of massive protostars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elbers W
(2022)
Higher order initial conditions with massive neutrinos
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elsender D
(2021)
The statistical properties of protostellar discs and their dependence on metallicity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elsender D
(2023)
On the frequencies of circumbinary discs in protostellar systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elson E
(2023)
Measurements of the angular momentum-mass relations in the Simba simulation
in New Astronomy
Elson E
(2023)
Measurements of the angular momentum-mass relations in the Simba simulation
in New Astronomy
Elvis M
(2020)
Q wind code release: a non-hydrodynamical approach to modelling line-driven winds in active galactic nuclei
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Erben F.
(2022)
Towards a lattice determination of the form factors of the rare Hyperon decay S+ ? pl+l-
in Proceedings of Science
Erben F.
(2023)
Progress on the exploratory calculation of the rare Hyperon decay -+ ? pl+l-
in Proceedings of Science
Etherington A
(2023)
Beyond the bulge-halo conspiracy? Density profiles of early-type galaxies from extended-source strong lensing
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Etherington A
(2022)
Automated galaxy-galaxy strong lens modelling: No lens left behind
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Etherington A
(2022)
Automated galaxy-galaxy strong lens modelling: No lens left behind
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Evans T
(2022)
Observing EAGLE galaxies with JWST : predictions for Milky Way progenitors and their building blocks
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Evans T
(2020)
How unusual is the Milky Way's assembly history?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Evstafyeva T
(2023)
Unequal-mass boson-star binaries: initial data and merger dynamics
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Evstafyeva T
(2023)
Boson stars in massless and massive scalar-tensor gravity
in Physical Review D
Falck B
(2021)
Indra: a public computationally accessible suite of cosmological N -body simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Falle S
(2020)
Thermal instability revisited
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fancher J
(2023)
On the relative importance of shocks and self-gravity in modifying tidal disruption event debris streams
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fattahi A
(2019)
The distinct stellar metallicity populations of simulated Local Group dwarfs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fattahi A
(2020)
A tale of two populations: surviving and destroyed dwarf galaxies and the build-up of the Milky Way's stellar halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fenton A
(2024)
The 3D structure of disc-instability protoplanets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ferlito F
(2023)
The MillenniumTNG Project: the impact of baryons and massive neutrinos on high-resolution weak gravitational lensing convergence maps
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Figueras P
(2023)
Endpoint of the Gregory-Laflamme instability of black strings revisited
in Physical Review D
Figueras P
(2020)
Gravitational collapse in cubic Horndeski theories
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Figueras P
(2022)
Black hole binaries in cubic Horndeski theories
in Physical Review D
Fiteni K
(2021)
The relative efficiencies of bars and clumps in driving disc stars to retrograde motion
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Flynn J
(2023)
Exclusive semileptonic B s ? K l ? decays on the lattice
in Physical Review D
Font A
(2020)
The artemis simulations: stellar haloes of Milky Way-mass galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Font A
(2022)
Quenching of satellite galaxies of Milky Way analogues: reconciling theory and observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Forouhar Moreno V
(2022)
Galactic satellite systems in CDM, WDM and SIDM
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Forouhar Moreno V
(2022)
Baryon-driven decontraction in Milky Way-mass haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Description | DiRAC 2.5 is a facility to support leading-edge computational astronomy and particle physics in the UK. This has resulted in over 500 peer-reviewed publications. |
Exploitation Route | Build on the scientific knowledge and computational techniques developed. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
Description | Intel IPAG QCD codesign project |
Organisation | Intel Corporation |
Department | Intel Corporation (Jones Farm) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have collaborated with Intel corporation since 2014 with $720k of total direct funding, starting initially as an Intel parallel computing centre, and expanding to direct close collaboration with Intel Pathfinding and Architecture Group. |
Collaborator Contribution | We have performed detailed optimisation of QCD codes (Wilson, Domain Wall, Staggered) on Intel many core architectures. We have investigated the memory system and interconnect performance, particularly on Intel's latest interconnect hardware called Omnipath. We found serious performance issues and worked with Intel to plan a solution and this has been verified and is available as beta software. It will reach general availability in the Intel MPI 2019 release, and allow threaded concurrent communications in MPI for the first time. A joint paper on the resolution to this was written with the Intel MPI team, and the application of the same QCD programming techniques to machine learning gradient reduction was applied in the paper to the Baidu Research all reduce library, demonstrating a 10x gain for this critical step in machine learning in clustered environments. We are also working with Intel verifying future architectures that will deliver the exascale performance in 2021. |
Impact | We have performed detailed optimisation of QCD codes (Wilson, Domain Wall, Staggered) on Intel many core architectures. We have investigated the memory system and interconnect performance, particularly on Intel's latest interconnect hardware called Omnipath. We found serious performance issues and worked with Intel to plan a solution and this has been verified and is available as beta software. It will reach general availability in the Intel MPI 2019 release, and allow threaded concurrent communications in MPI for the first time. A joint paper on the resolution to this was written with the Intel MPI team, and the application of the same QCD programming techniques to machine learning gradient reduction was applied in the paper to the Baidu Research all reduce library, demonstrating a 10x gain for this critical step in machine learning in clustered environments. This collaboration has been renewed annually in 2018, 2019, 2020. Two DiRAC RSE's were hired by Intel to work on the Turing collaboration. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Title | FP16-S7E8 MIXED PRECISION FOR DEEP LEARNING AND OTHER ALGORITHMS |
Description | We demonstrated that a new non-IEEE 16 bit floating point format is the optimal choice for machine learning training and proposed instructions. |
IP Reference | US20190042544 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2019 |
Licensed | Yes |
Impact | We demonstrated that a new non-IEEE 16 bit floating point format is the optimal choice for machine learning training and proposed instructions. Intel filed this with US patent office. This IP is owned by Intel under the terms of the Intel Turing strategic partnership contract. As a co-inventor I have been named on the patent application. The proposed format has been announced as planned for use in future Intel architectures. This collaboration with Turing emerged out of an investment in Edinburgh by Intel Pathfinding and Architecture Group in codesign with lattice gauge theory simulations. Intel hired DiRAC RSE's Kashyap and Lepper and placed them in Edinburgh to work with me on Machine Learning codesign through the Turing programme. |