The DiRAC-2.5y Facility
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: 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 DiRAC2 HPC facility has been operating since 2012, providing computing resources for theoretical research
in all areas of particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and nuclear physics supported by STFC. It is a highly productive
facility, generating 200-250 papers annually in international, peer-reviewed journals. However, the DiRAC facility risks becoming uncompetitive as it has remained static in terms of overall capability since 2012. The DiRAC-2.5x investment in 2017/18 mitigated the risk of hardware failures, by replacing our oldest hardware components. However, as the factor 5 oversubscription of the most recent RAC call demonstrated, the science programme in 2019/20 and beyond requires a significant uplift in DiRAC's compute capability. The main purpose of the requested funding for the DiRAC2.5y project is to provide a factor 2 increase in computing across all DiRAC services to enable the facility to remain competitive during 2019/20 in anticipation of future funding for DiRAC-3.
DiRAC2.5y builds on the success of the DiRAC HPC facility and will provide the resources needed to support cutting-edge research
during 2019 in all areas of science supported by STFC. While the funding is required to remain competitive, the science programme will continue to be world-leading. Examples of the projects which will benefit from this investment include:
(i) lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations of the properties of fundamental particles from first principles;
(ii) improving the potential of experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider for discovery of new physics by increasing the accuracy of theoretical predictions for rare processes involving the fundamental constituents of matter known as quarks;
(iii) simulations of the merger of pairs of black holes amnwhich generate gravitational waves such as those recently discovered by the LIGO consortium;
(iv) the most realistic simulations to date of the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe;
(v) the accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes, the most efficient means of extracting energy from matter and the engine which drives galaxy evolution;
(vi) new models of our own Milky Way galaxy calibrated using new data from the European Space Agency's GAIA satellite;
(vii) detailed simulations of the interior of the sun and of planetary interiors;
(viii) the formation of stars in clusters - for the first time it will be possible to follow the formation of massive stars.
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 DiRAC2 HPC facility has been operating since 2012, providing computing resources for theoretical research
in all areas of particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and nuclear physics supported by STFC. It is a highly productive
facility, generating 200-250 papers annually in international, peer-reviewed journals. However, the DiRAC facility risks becoming uncompetitive as it has remained static in terms of overall capability since 2012. The DiRAC-2.5x investment in 2017/18 mitigated the risk of hardware failures, by replacing our oldest hardware components. However, as the factor 5 oversubscription of the most recent RAC call demonstrated, the science programme in 2019/20 and beyond requires a significant uplift in DiRAC's compute capability. The main purpose of the requested funding for the DiRAC2.5y project is to provide a factor 2 increase in computing across all DiRAC services to enable the facility to remain competitive during 2019/20 in anticipation of future funding for DiRAC-3.
DiRAC2.5y builds on the success of the DiRAC HPC facility and will provide the resources needed to support cutting-edge research
during 2019 in all areas of science supported by STFC. While the funding is required to remain competitive, the science programme will continue to be world-leading. Examples of the projects which will benefit from this investment include:
(i) lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations of the properties of fundamental particles from first principles;
(ii) improving the potential of experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider for discovery of new physics by increasing the accuracy of theoretical predictions for rare processes involving the fundamental constituents of matter known as quarks;
(iii) simulations of the merger of pairs of black holes amnwhich generate gravitational waves such as those recently discovered by the LIGO consortium;
(iv) the most realistic simulations to date of the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe;
(v) the accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes, the most efficient means of extracting energy from matter and the engine which drives galaxy evolution;
(vi) new models of our own Milky Way galaxy calibrated using new data from the European Space Agency's GAIA satellite;
(vii) detailed simulations of the interior of the sun and of planetary interiors;
(viii) the formation of stars in clusters - for the first time it will be possible to follow the formation of massive stars.
Planned Impact
The anticipated impact of the DiRAC2.5y HPC facility aligns closely with the recently published UK Industrial Strategy. As such, many of our key impacts will be driven by our engagements with industry. Each service provider for DiRAC2.5y has a local industrial strategy to deliver increased levels of industrial returns over the next three years.
The "Pathways to impact" document which is attached to this proposal describes the overall industrial strategy for the DiRAC facility, including our strategic goals and key performance indicators.
The "Pathways to impact" document which is attached to this proposal describes the overall industrial strategy for the DiRAC facility, including our strategic goals and key performance indicators.
Organisations
Publications
Guervilly C
(2019)
Turbulent convective length scale in planetary cores.
in Nature
Gurung-López S
(2019)
Lya emitters in a cosmological volume - I. The impact of radiative transfer
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall C
(2019)
The Temporal Requirements of Directly Observing Self-gravitating Spiral Waves in Protoplanetary Disks with ALMA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Harries T
(2019)
The TORUS radiation transfer code
in Astronomy and Computing
Harvey D
(2019)
Observable tests of self-interacting dark matter in galaxy clusters: BCG wobbles in a constant density core
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hatton D
(2019)
Renormalizing vector currents in lattice QCD using momentum-subtraction schemes
in Physical Review D
Haworth T
(2020)
The observational anatomy of externally photoevaporating planet-forming discs - I. Atomic carbon
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Haworth T
(2019)
The first multidimensional view of mass loss from externally FUV irradiated protoplanetary discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Haynes C
(2019)
Galactic simulations of r-process elemental abundances
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Helfer T
(2019)
Cosmic string loop collapse in full general relativity
in Physical Review D
Henden N
(2019)
The redshift evolution of X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich scaling relations in the fable simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Henriques B
(2020)
L-GALAXIES 2020: Spatially resolved cold gas phases, star formation, and chemical enrichment in galactic discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hernández-Aguayo C
(2019)
Large-scale redshift space distortions in modified gravity theories
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hildebrandt H
(2020)
KiDS+VIKING-450: Cosmic shear tomography with optical and infrared data
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hillier A
(2019)
Coronal Cooling as a Result of Mixing by the Nonlinear Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hillier A
(2020)
Self-similar solutions of asymmetric Rayleigh-Taylor mixing
in Physics of Fluids
Hillier A
(2019)
Ion-neutral decoupling in the nonlinear Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: Case of field-aligned flow
in Physics of Plasmas
Hindmarsh M
(2020)
Scaling Density of Axion Strings
in Physical Review Letters
Hori K
(2019)
Anelastic torsional oscillations in Jupiter's metallic hydrogen region
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Horowitz G
(2019)
Creating a traversable wormhole
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Horsley R
(2019)
Isospin splittings in the decuplet baryon spectrum from dynamical QCD + QED
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Hou J
(2019)
A comparison between semi-analytical gas cooling models and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hough R
(2023)
SIMBA - C : an updated chemical enrichment model for galactic chemical evolution in the SIMBA simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Howson T
(2019)
Magnetohydrodynamic waves in braided magnetic fields
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Huang J
(2023)
Global 3D Radiation Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Accretion onto a Stellar-mass Black Hole at Sub- and Near-critical Accretion Rates
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hughes D
(2019)
Force balance in convectively driven dynamos with no inertia
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Hughes M
(2020)
The [a/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation in the E-MOSAICS simulations: its connection to the birth place of globular clusters and the fraction of globular cluster field stars in the bulge
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Humphries J
(2019)
Constraining the initial planetary population in the gravitational instability model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Humphries J
(2019)
On the origin of wide-orbit ALMA planets: giant protoplanets disrupted by their cores
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Idini A
(2019)
Ab Initio Optical Potentials and Nucleon Scattering on Medium Mass Nuclei.
in Physical review letters
Irwin P
(2019)
Analysis of gaseous ammonia (NH3) absorption in the visible spectrum of Jupiter - Update
in Icarus
Jackson R
(2019)
Massive spheroids can form in single minor mergers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jankovic M
(2019)
Observing substructure in circumstellar discs around massive young stellar objects
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jauzac M
(2019)
The core of the massive cluster merger MACS J0417.5-1154 as seen by VLT/MUSE
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jennings F
(2023)
Halo scaling relations and hydrostatic mass bias in the simba simulation from realistic mock X-ray catalogues
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Katz H
(2019)
Probing cosmic dawn: modelling the assembly history, SEDs, and dust content of selected z ~ 9 galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Katz H
(2019)
Magnetogenesis at Cosmic Dawn: tracing the origins of cosmic magnetic fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Katz H
(2019)
Probing cosmic dawn with emission lines: predicting infrared and nebular line emission for ALMA and JWST
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Katz H
(2019)
Tracing the sources of reionization in cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kawata D
(2019)
Galactic rotation from Cepheids with Gaia DR2 and effects of non-axisymmetry
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Keating L
(2020)
Long troughs in the Lyman-a forest below redshift 6 due to islands of neutral hydrogen
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kessar M
(2019)
Scale Selection in the Stratified Convection of the Solar Photosphere
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kettle J
(2019)
Beyond the standard model kaon mixing with physical masses.
Kimm T
(2019)
Understanding the escape of LyC and Lya photons from turbulent clouds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kirchschlager F
(2019)
Dust survival rates in clumps passing through the Cas A reverse shock - I. Results for a range of clump densities
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Komissarov S
(2019)
Magnetic inhibition of centrifugal instability
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koudmani S
(2019)
Fast and energetic AGN-driven outflows in simulated dwarf galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kraljic K
(2020)
The impact of the connectivity of the cosmic web on the physical properties of galaxies at its nodes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society