Edinburgh DiRAC Resource Grant
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
DiRAC (Distributed Research utilising Advanced Computing) is the integrated supercomputing facility for theoretical modelling and HPC-based research in particle physics, nuclear physics, astronomy and cosmology, areas in which the UK is world-leading. It was funded as a result of investment of £12.32 million, from the Government's Large Facilities Capital Fund, together with investment from STFC and from universities. In 2012, the DiRAC facility was upgraded with a further £15 million capital investment from government (DiRAC-2).
The DiRAC facility provides a variety of computer architectures, matching machine architecture to the algorithm design and requirements of the research problems to be solved. The science facilitated includes: using supercomputers to enable scientists to calculate what theories of the early universe predict and to test them against observations of the present universe; undertaking lattice field theory calculations whose primary aim is to increase the predictive power of the Standard Model of elementary particle interactions through numerical simulation of Quantum Chromodynamics; carrying out state-of-the-art cosmological simulations, including the large-scale distribution of dark matter, the formation of dark matter haloes, the formation and evolution of galaxies and clusters, the physics of the intergalactic medium and the properties of the intracluster gas.
This grant is to support the continued operation of the DiRAC facilities until 2017 to ensure that the UK remains one of the world-leaders of theoretical modelling in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology.
The DiRAC facility provides a variety of computer architectures, matching machine architecture to the algorithm design and requirements of the research problems to be solved. The science facilitated includes: using supercomputers to enable scientists to calculate what theories of the early universe predict and to test them against observations of the present universe; undertaking lattice field theory calculations whose primary aim is to increase the predictive power of the Standard Model of elementary particle interactions through numerical simulation of Quantum Chromodynamics; carrying out state-of-the-art cosmological simulations, including the large-scale distribution of dark matter, the formation of dark matter haloes, the formation and evolution of galaxies and clusters, the physics of the intergalactic medium and the properties of the intracluster gas.
This grant is to support the continued operation of the DiRAC facilities until 2017 to ensure that the UK remains one of the world-leaders of theoretical modelling in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology.
Planned Impact
The high-performance computing applications supported by DiRAC typically involve new algorithms and implementations optimised for high energy efficiency which impose demands on computer architectures that the computing industry has found useful for hardware and system software design and testing.
DiRAC researchers have on-going collaborations with computing companies that maintain this strong connection between the scientific goals of the DiRAC Consortium and the development of new computing technologies that drive the commercial high-performance computing market, with economic benefits to the companies involved and more powerful computing capabilities available to other application areas including many that address socio-economic challenges.
DiRAC researchers have on-going collaborations with computing companies that maintain this strong connection between the scientific goals of the DiRAC Consortium and the development of new computing technologies that drive the commercial high-performance computing market, with economic benefits to the companies involved and more powerful computing capabilities available to other application areas including many that address socio-economic challenges.
People |
ORCID iD |
Richard Kenway (Principal Investigator) | |
Peter Boyle (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Pagano P
(2020)
Effect of coronal loop structure on wave heating through phase mixing
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
White S
(2020)
The globular cluster system of the Auriga simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rosotti G
(2020)
Spiral arms in the protoplanetary disc HD100453 detected with ALMA: evidence for binary-disc interaction and a vertical temperature gradient
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Glowacki M
(2020)
The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation in the simba simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aviles A
(2020)
Marked correlation functions in perturbation theory
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Collins GS
(2020)
A steeply-inclined trajectory for the Chicxulub impact.
in Nature communications
Pfeffer J
(2020)
Predicting accreted satellite galaxy masses and accretion redshifts based on globular cluster orbits in the E-MOSAICS simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tress R
(2020)
Simulations of the Milky Way's central molecular zone - I. Gas dynamics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Boyle P
(2020)
Latest Results on Lattice Calculation Concerning K ? p l + l - Decays
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Hall C
(2020)
Predicting the Kinematic Evidence of Gravitational Instability
in The Astrophysical Journal
Despali G
(2020)
The lensing properties of subhaloes in massive elliptical galaxies in sterile neutrino cosmologies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pichon C
(2020)
And yet it flips: connecting galactic spin and the cosmic web
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cooper R
(2020)
Subcritical dynamos in rapidly rotating planar convection
in Physical Review Fluids
Becker C
(2020)
Proca-stinated cosmology. Part I. A N -body code for the vector Galileon
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Buividovich P
(2020)
Electric conductivity in finite-density S U ( 2 ) lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions
in Physical Review D
Tress R
(2020)
Simulations of the star-forming molecular gas in an interacting M51-like galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Phillips M
(2020)
A new set of atmosphere and evolution models for cool T-Y brown dwarfs and giant exoplanets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Reid J
(2020)
Coronal energy release by MHD avalanches: Heating mechanisms
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kruijssen J
(2020)
Kraken reveals itself - the merger history of the Milky Way reconstructed with the E-MOSAICS simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Campargue A
(2020)
Detection of electric-quadrupole transitions in water vapour near 5.4 and 2.5 µm
in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Aurrekoetxea J
(2020)
The effects of potential shape on inhomogeneous inflation
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Davies C
(2020)
Hadronic-vacuum-polarization contribution to the muon's anomalous magnetic moment from four-flavor lattice QCD
in Physical Review D
Cooper L
(2020)
B c ? B s ( d ) form factors from lattice QCD
in Physical Review D
Ho S
(2020)
Morphological and Rotation Structures of Circumgalactic Mg ii Gas in the EAGLE Simulation and the Dependence on Galaxy Properties
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wurster J
(2020)
Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics versus turbulence II: Which is the dominant process in stellar core formation?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sedda M
(2020)
The missing link in gravitational-wave astronomy: discoveries waiting in the decihertz range
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Campargue A
(2020)
Observation of electric-quadrupole infrared transitions in water vapor
in Physical Review Research
Bulla M
(2020)
White dwarf deflagrations for Type Iax supernovae: polarisation signatures from the explosion and companion interaction
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pinte C
(2020)
Rocking shadows in broken circumbinary discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Correa C
(2020)
The dependence of the galaxy stellar-to-halo mass relation on galaxy morphology
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Attanasio F
(2020)
Complex Langevin simulations and the QCD phase diagram: recent developments
in The European Physical Journal A
Wu X
(2020)
Photometric properties of reionization-epoch galaxies in the simba simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Yurchenko S
(2020)
ExoMol molecular line lists - XXXVII. Spectra of acetylene
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pearce F
(2020)
Hydrostatic mass estimates of massive galaxy clusters: a study with varying hydrodynamics flavours and non-thermal pressure support
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cooper L
(2020)
$B_c \to B_{s(d)}$ form factors
Kegerreis J
(2020)
Atmospheric Erosion by Giant Impacts onto Terrestrial Planets
in The Astrophysical Journal
Woss A
(2020)
Efficient solution of the multichannel Lüscher determinant condition through eigenvalue decomposition
in Physical Review D
Skaf N
(2020)
ARES. II. Characterizing the Hot Jupiters WASP-127 b, WASP-79 b, and WASP-62b with the Hubble Space Telescope
in The Astronomical Journal
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
Hori K
(2020)
Solitary magnetostrophic Rossby waves in spherical shells
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Lofthouse E
(2020)
MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) - I: Survey design and the environment of a near pristine gas cloud at z ˜ 3.5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Van der Werf P
(2020)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 CLS UDS field: physical properties of 707 sub-millimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sykes C
(2020)
Determining the primordial helium abundance and UV background using fluorescent emission in star-free dark matter haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Franci L
(2020)
Modeling MMS Observations at the Earth's Magnetopause with Hybrid Simulations of Alfvénic Turbulence
in The Astrophysical Journal
Henden N
(2020)
The baryon content of groups and clusters of galaxies in the FABLE simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell M
(2020)
Toward a General Parameterization of the Warm Dark Matter Halo Mass Function
in The Astrophysical Journal
Salcido J
(2020)
How feedback shapes galaxies: an analytic model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Adamek J
(2020)
Numerical solutions to Einstein's equations in a shearing-dust universe: a code comparison
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Yip K
(2020)
On the Compatibility of Ground-based and Space-based Data: WASP-96 b, an Example*
in The Astronomical Journal
Description | In December 2009, the STFC Facility, DiRAC, was established to provide distributed High Performance Computing (HPC) services for theoretical modelling and HPC-based research in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology. DiRAC provides a variety of computer architectures, matching machine architecture to the algorithm design and requirements of the research problems to be solved. This grant funds the continued operation of the 1.3Pflop/s Blue Gene/Q system at the University of Edinburgh, which was co-developed by Peter Boyle (University of Edinburgh) and IBM to run with high energy efficiency for months at a time on a single problem to solve some of the most complex problems in physics, particularly the strong interactions of quarks and gluons. The DiRAC Facility supports over 250 active researchers at 27 UK HEIs. This includes the research projects of 100 funded research staff (PDRAs and Research Fellows), over 50 post-graduate projects, and £1.6M of funded research grants. |
Exploitation Route | Theoretical results obtained input to a range of experimental programmes aiming to increase our understanding of Nature. Algorithms and software developed provide input to computer design. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
URL | http://dirac.ac.uk/ |
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 |