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
Irodotou D
(2022)
The effects of AGN feedback on the structural and dynamical properties of Milky Way-mass galaxies in cosmological simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bolton J
(2022)
Limits on non-canonical heating and turbulence in the intergalactic medium from the low redshift Lyman a forest
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Baugh C
(2022)
Modelling emission lines in star-forming galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ahad S
(2021)
The stellar mass function and evolution of the density profile of galaxy clusters from the Hydrangea simulations at 0 < z < 1.5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cuomo V
(2023)
Testing for relics of past strong buckling events in edge-on galaxies: simulation predictions and data from S4G
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Navarro J
(2020)
The edge of the Galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brown S
(2020)
Connecting the structure of dark matter haloes to the primordial power spectrum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kirchschlager F
(2023)
Dust survival rates in clumps passing through the Cas A reverse shock - II. The impact of magnetic fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sawala T
(2021)
Setting the stage: structures from Gaussian random fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hassan S
(2020)
Testing galaxy formation simulations with damped Lyman-a abundance and metallicity evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Katz H
(2020)
New methods for identifying Lyman continuum leakers and reionization-epoch analogues
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Porth L
(2020)
Fast estimation of aperture mass statistics - I. Aperture mass variance and an application to the CFHTLenS data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Yurchenko S
(2020)
ExoMol line lists - XXXIX. Ro-vibrational molecular line list for CO2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Li B
(2020)
Measuring the baryon acoustic oscillation peak position with different galaxy selections
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bending T
(2022)
Supernovae and photoionizing feedback in spiral arm molecular clouds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gonzalez-Perez V
(2020)
Do model emission line galaxies live in filaments at z ~ 1?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wurster J
(2021)
The impact of non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic processes on discs, outflows, counter-rotation, and magnetic walls during the early stages of star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Amorisco N
(2022)
Halo concentration strengthens dark matter constraints in galaxy-galaxy strong lensing analyses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mitchell M
(2022)
A general framework to test gravity using galaxy clusters - VI. Realistic galaxy formation simulations to study clusters in modified gravity
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
Owen J
(2020)
Testing exoplanet evaporation with multitransiting systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Font A
(2020)
The artemis simulations: stellar haloes of Milky Way-mass galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Baugh C
(2020)
Sensitivity analysis of a galaxy formation model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shingles L
(2020)
Monte Carlo radiative transfer for the nebular phase of Type Ia supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sorini D
(2020)
simba: the average properties of the circumgalactic medium of 2 = z = 3 quasars are determined primarily by stellar feedback
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Srisawat C
(2020)
MEGA: Merger graphs of structure formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Trayford J
(2020)
Fade to grey: systematic variation of galaxy attenuation curves with galaxy properties in the eagle simulations
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
Anderson S
(2022)
The secular growth of bars revealed by flat (peak + shoulders) density profiles
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DeGraf C
(2021)
Morphological evolution of supermassive black hole merger hosts and multimessenger signatures
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wurster J
(2020)
Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics versus turbulence - I. Which is the dominant process in protostellar disc formation?
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
Keating L
(2020)
Constraining the second half of reionization with the Ly ß forest
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Collins C
(2022)
Double detonations: variations in Type Ia supernovae due to different core and He shell masses - II. Synthetic observables
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell C
(2021)
Reproducing submillimetre galaxy number counts with cosmological hydrodynamic simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rogers J
(2021)
Unveiling the planet population at birth
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Frenk C
(2020)
The missing dwarf galaxies of the Local Group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Garzilli A
(2020)
Measuring the temperature and profiles of Ly a absorbers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davies C
(2022)
Cosmological forecasts with the clustering of weak lensing peaks
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Katz H
(2022)
RAMSES-RTZ: non-equilibrium metal chemistry and cooling coupled to on-the-fly radiation hydrodynamics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Porth L
(2021)
Fast estimation of aperture-mass statistics - II. Detectability of higher order statistics in current and future surveys
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
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
Barnes D
(2021)
Characterizing hydrostatic mass bias with mock-X
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Grove C
(2022)
The DESI N -body simulation project - I. Testing the robustness of simulations for the DESI dark time survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Davies J
(2020)
The quenching and morphological evolution of central galaxies is facilitated by the feedback-driven expulsion of circumgalactic gas
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
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
Smith A
(2022)
A light-cone catalogue from the Millennium-XXL simulation: improved spatial interpolation and colour distributions for the DESI BGS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| 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 |