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
Khachaturyants T
(2021)
How stars formed in warps settle into (and contaminate) thick discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Khachaturyants T
(2022)
The pattern speeds of vertical breathing waves
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Kimm T
(2022)
A Systematic Study of the Escape of LyC and Lya Photons from Star-forming, Magnetized Turbulent Clouds
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
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
Kirchschlager F
(2020)
Silicate Grain Growth due to Ion Trapping in Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnants like Cassiopeia A
in The Astrophysical Journal
Koiwai T
(2022)
A first glimpse at the shell structure beyond 54Ca: Spectroscopy of 55K, 55Ca, and 57Ca
in Physics Letters B
Kong S
(2022)
Filament formation via collision-induced magnetic reconnection - formation of a star cluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koponen J
(2022)
Properties of low-lying charmonia and bottomonia from lattice QCD + QED
in Suplemento de la Revista Mexicana de Física
Kordov Z
(2021)
State mixing and masses of the p 0 , ? and ? ' mesons from n f = 1 + 1 + 1 lattice QCD + QED
in Physical Review D
Kordov Z
(2020)
Electromagnetic contribution to S - ? mixing using lattice QCD + QED
in Physical Review D
Koudmani S
(2022)
Two can play at that game: constraining the role of supernova and AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies with cosmological zoom-in simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koudmani S
(2021)
A little FABLE: exploring AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies with cosmological simulations
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
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
Kukstas E
(2020)
Environment from cross-correlations: connecting hot gas and the quenching of galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kupilas M
(2021)
Interactions of a shock with a molecular cloud at various stages of its evolution due to thermal instability and gravity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lach F
(2022)
Type Iax supernovae from deflagrations in Chandrasekhar mass white dwarfs
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lach F
(2022)
Models of pulsationally assisted gravitationally confined detonations with different ignition conditions
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lamberts A
(2022)
Constraining blazar heating with the 2 ? z ? 3 Lyman-a forest
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lang N
(2022)
Axial-Vector D_{1} Hadrons in D^{*}p Scattering from QCD.
in Physical review letters
Lawlor D
(2022)
Thermal Transitions in Dense Two-Colour QCD
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Le Saux A
(2022)
Two-dimensional simulations of solar-like models with artificially enhanced luminosity II. Impact on internal gravity waves
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lee E
(2022)
A multisimulation study of relativistic SZ temperature scalings in galaxy clusters and groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee J
(2022)
Simulating Jellyfish Galaxies: A Case Study for a Gas-rich Dwarf Galaxy
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lee J
(2020)
Dual Effects of Ram Pressure on Star Formation in Multiphase Disk Galaxies with Strong Stellar Feedback
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lega E
(2022)
Migration of Jupiter mass planets in discs with laminar accretion flows
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lega E
(2021)
Migration of Jupiter-mass planets in low-viscosity discs
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Leo M
(2020)
Constraining structure formation using EDGES
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Li B
(2020)
Measuring the baryon acoustic oscillation peak position with different galaxy selections
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Li Y
(2022)
Non-linear reconstruction of features in the primordial power spectrum from large-scale structure
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Linh B
(2021)
Investigation of the ground-state spin inversion in the neutron-rich Cl 47 , 49 isotopes
in Physical Review C
Liow K
(2020)
The role of collision speed, cloud density, and turbulence in the formation of young massive clusters via cloud-cloud collisions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Lovell C
(2022)
An orientation bias in observations of submillimetre galaxies
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
Lovell C
(2021)
First Light And Reionization Epoch Simulations (FLARES) - I. Environmental dependence of high-redshift galaxy evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell C
(2022)
A machine learning approach to mapping baryons on to dark matter haloes using the eagle and C-EAGLE simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell M
(2021)
The spatial distribution of Milky Way satellites, gaps in streams, and the nature of dark matter
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
Lovell M
(2020)
Local group star formation in warm and self-interacting dark matter cosmologies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lower S
(2020)
How Well Can We Measure the Stellar Mass of a Galaxy: The Impact of the Assumed Star Formation History Model in SED Fitting
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lucini B
(2015)
Numerical results for gauge theories near the conformal window
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
MacTaggart D
(2021)
Direct evidence that twisted flux tube emergence creates solar active regions.
in Nature communications
MacTaggart D
(2021)
Direct evidence that twisted flux tube emergence creates solar active regions.
in Nature communications
Maitra S
(2022)
Measurement of redshift-space two- and three-point correlation of Lya absorbers at 1.7 < z < 3.5: implications on evolution of the physical properties of IGM
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Malbrunot-Ettenauer S
(2022)
Nuclear Charge Radii of the Nickel Isotopes ^{58-68,70}Ni.
in Physical review letters
Mann A
(2022)
TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME). VI. An 11 Myr Giant Planet Transiting a Very-low-mass Star in Lower Centaurus Crux
in The Astronomical Journal
Mant B
(2019)
The infrared spectrum of PF 3 and analysis of rotational energy clustering effect
in Molecular Physics
Manzoni G
(2021)
Modelling the quenching of star formation activity from the evolution of the colour-magnitude relation in VIPERS
in New Astronomy
Martin-Alvarez S
(2021)
Unravelling the origin of magnetic fields in galaxies
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 |