DiRAC 2.5 Operations 2017-2020
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of 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.
In addition to the existing DiRAC-2 services, from April 2017 DiRAC-2.5 will provide:
1) A factor 2 increase in the computational power of the DiRAC supercomputer at the University of Durham, which is designed for simulations requiring large amounts of computer memory. The enhanced system will be used to:
(i) simulate the merger of pairs of black holes which generate gravitational waves such as those recently discovered by the LIGO consortium;
(ii) perform the most realistic simulations to date of the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe
(iii) carry out detailed simulations of the interior of the sun and of planetary interiors.
2) A new High Performance Computer at Cambridge whose particular architecture is well suited to the theoretical problems that we want to tackle that utilise large amounts of data, either as input or being generated at intermediate stages of our calculations. Two key challenges that we will tackle are those of:
(i) improving our understanding of the Milky Way through analysis of new data from the European
Space Agency's GAIA satellite and
(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.
3) An additional 3500 compute cores on the DiRAC Complexity supercomputer at Leicester which will make it possible to
carry out simulations of some of the most complex physical situation in the Universe. These include:
(i) the formation of stars in clusters - for the first time it will be possible to follow the formation of stars many times more massive than the sun;
(ii) the accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes, the most efficient means of extracting energy from matter and the engine
which drives galaxy formation and evolution.
4) 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.
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.
In addition to the existing DiRAC-2 services, from April 2017 DiRAC-2.5 will provide:
1) A factor 2 increase in the computational power of the DiRAC supercomputer at the University of Durham, which is designed for simulations requiring large amounts of computer memory. The enhanced system will be used to:
(i) simulate the merger of pairs of black holes which generate gravitational waves such as those recently discovered by the LIGO consortium;
(ii) perform the most realistic simulations to date of the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe
(iii) carry out detailed simulations of the interior of the sun and of planetary interiors.
2) A new High Performance Computer at Cambridge whose particular architecture is well suited to the theoretical problems that we want to tackle that utilise large amounts of data, either as input or being generated at intermediate stages of our calculations. Two key challenges that we will tackle are those of:
(i) improving our understanding of the Milky Way through analysis of new data from the European
Space Agency's GAIA satellite and
(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.
3) An additional 3500 compute cores on the DiRAC Complexity supercomputer at Leicester which will make it possible to
carry out simulations of some of the most complex physical situation in the Universe. These include:
(i) the formation of stars in clusters - for the first time it will be possible to follow the formation of stars many times more massive than the sun;
(ii) the accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes, the most efficient means of extracting energy from matter and the engine
which drives galaxy formation and evolution.
4) 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.
Organisations
Publications
Barrera-Hinojosa C
(2020)
GRAMSES: a new route to general relativistic N -body simulations in cosmology. Part I. Methodology and code description
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Barrera-Hinojosa C
(2020)
GRAMSES: a new route to general relativistic N -body simulations in cosmology. Part II. Initial conditions
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Figueras P
(2020)
Gravitational collapse in cubic Horndeski theories
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Figueras P
(2020)
Gravitational Collapse in Cubic Horndeski Theories
Mosbech M
(2023)
Gravitational-wave event rates as a new probe for dark matter microphysics
in Physical Review D
Khan S
(2021)
Gravitational-wave surrogate models powered by artificial neural networks
in Physical Review D
Andrade T
(2021)
GRChombo: An adaptable numerical relativity code for fundamental physics
in Journal of Open Source Software
Bamber J
(2020)
Growth of accretion driven scalar hair around Kerr black holes
Bamber J
(2021)
Growth of accretion driven scalar hair around Kerr black holes
in Physical Review D
Clough K
(2019)
Growth of massive scalar hair around a Schwarzschild black hole
in Physical Review D
Glesaaen J.
(2018)
Hadronic spectrum calculations in the quark-gluon plasma
in Proceedings of Science
Glesaaen J
(2019)
Hadronic spectrum calculations in the quark-gluon plasma
Skullerud J
(2022)
Hadrons at high temperature: An update from the FASTSUM collaboration
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Amorisco N
(2022)
Halo concentration strengthens dark matter constraints in galaxy-galaxy strong lensing analyses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gómez J
(2022)
Halo merger tree comparison: impact on galaxy formation models
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
Vincenzo F
(2019)
He abundances in disc galaxies I. Predictions from cosmological chemodynamical simulations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Daley-Yates S
(2023)
Heating and cooling in stellar coronae: coronal rain on a young Sun
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sperhake U
(2019)
High-energy collision of black holes in higher dimensions
in Physical Review D
Camps P
(2022)
High-resolution synthetic UV-submm images for Milky Way-mass simulated galaxies from the ARTEMIS project
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
Bena I
(2019)
Holographic dual of hot Polchinski-Strassler quark-gluon plasma
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Sorini D
(2022)
How baryons affect haloes and large-scale structure: a unified picture from the Simba simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mitchell P
(2022)
How gas flows shape the stellar-halo mass relation in the eagle simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Threlfall J
(2020)
How Is Helicity (and Twist) Partitioned in Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Reconnecting Magnetic Flux Tubes?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jahns-Schindler J
(2023)
How limiting is optical follow-up for fast radio burst applications? Forecasts for radio and optical surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Martin-Alvarez S
(2020)
How primordial magnetic fields shrink galaxies
Gómez-Guijarro C
(2020)
How primordial magnetic fields shrink galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Khachaturyants T
(2021)
How stars formed in warps settle into (and contaminate) thick discs
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
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
Moews B
(2021)
Hybrid analytic and machine-learned baryonic property insertion into galactic dark matter haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ziampras A
(2023)
Hydrodynamic turbulence in disks with embedded planets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pagano P
(2020)
Hydrogen non-equilibrium ionisation effects in coronal mass ejections
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sainsbury-Martinez F
(2019)
Idealised simulations of the deep atmosphere of hot Jupiters Deep, hot adiabats as a robust solution to the radius inflation problem
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kegerreis J
(2022)
Immediate Origin of the Moon as a Post-impact Satellite
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Hutchinson A
(2023)
Impact of corotation on gradual solar energetic particle event intensity profiles
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hu S
(2018)
Impact of cosmological satellites on stellar discs: dissecting one satelliteat a time
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vlaykov D
(2022)
Impact of radial truncation on global 2D hydrodynamic simulations for a Sun-like model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Han D
(2022)
Impact of Radiation Feedback on the Formation of Globular Cluster Candidates during Cloud-Cloud Collisions
in The Astrophysical Journal
Eager-Nash J
(2020)
Implications of different stellar spectra for the climate of tidally locked Earth-like exoplanets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Drummond B
(2020)
Implications of three-dimensional chemical transport in hot Jupiter atmospheres: Results from a consistently coupled chemistry-radiation-hydrodynamics model
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Chakraborty B
(2021)
Improved V c s determination using precise lattice QCD form factors for D ? K l ?
in Physical Review D
Davies C
(2019)
Improving the kinetic couplings in lattice nonrelativistic QCD
in Physical Review D
Davies C
(2019)
Improving the kinetic couplings in lattice nonrelativistic QCD
Donevski D
(2020)
In pursuit of giants I. The evolution of the dust-to-stellar mass ratio in distant dusty galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Trujillo-Gomez S
(2023)
In situ or accreted? Using deep learning to infer the origin of extragalactic globular clusters from observables
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society