DiRAC: Memory Intensive 2.5y
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Physics
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 and which 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.
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 and which 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 the lead (Leicester) proposal describes the overall industrial strategy for the DiRAC facility, including our strategic goals and key performance indicators.
Organisations
Publications
Šoltinskí T
(2021)
The detectability of strong 21 centimetre forest absorbers from the diffuse intergalactic medium in late reionisation models
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zovaro H
(2022)
Revisiting the giant radio galaxy ESO 422-G028 - I. Discovery of a neutral inflow and recent star formation in a restarted giant
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zhu Y
(2021)
Chasing the Tail of Cosmic Reionization with Dark Gap Statistics in the Lya Forest over 5 < z < 6
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zheng Y
(2022)
Rapidly quenched galaxies in the Simba cosmological simulation and observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zheng H
(2023)
The abundance of dark matter haloes down to Earth mass
Zhang H
(2022)
Spherical accretion of collisional gas in modified gravity I: self-similar solutions and a new cosmological hydrodynamical code
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zenocratti L
(2020)
Correlations between mass, stellar kinematics, and gas metallicity in eagle galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Zenocratti L
(2022)
The origin of correlations between mass, metallicity, and morphology in galaxies from the eagle simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Young A
(2021)
Chemical signatures of a warped protoplanetary disc
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ying B
(2019)
First Determination of 2D Speed Distribution within the Bodies of Coronal Mass Ejections with Cross-correlation Analysis
in The Astrophysical Journal
Yardley S
(2021)
Simulating the Coronal Evolution of Bipolar Active Regions to Investigate the Formation of Flux Ropes
in Solar Physics
Yankelevich V
(2022)
The halo bispectrum as a sensitive probe of massive neutrinos and baryon physics
Yankelevich V
(2023)
The halo bispectrum as a sensitive probe of massive neutrinos and baryon physics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Yang T
(2022)
Understanding the relation between thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich decrement and halo mass using the simba and TNG simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Yachmenev A
(2021)
Electric quadrupole transitions in carbon dioxide.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Wu X
(2020)
Photometric properties of reionization-epoch galaxies in the simba simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Witstok J
(2021)
Prospects for observing the low-density cosmic web in Lyman- a emission
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Willis J
(2020)
Parallel Computing: Technology Trends
Williams C
(2021)
ALMA Measures Rapidly Depleted Molecular Gas Reservoirs in Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z ~ 1.5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wilkins S
(2024)
First Light and Reionization Epoch Simulations ( flares ) - XIV. The Balmer/4000 Å breaks of distant galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilkins S
(2023)
First Light And Reionization Epoch Simulations (FLARES) VII: The star formation and metal enrichment histories of galaxies in the early Universe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilkins S
(2022)
First Light and Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES) - VI. The colour evolution of galaxies z = 5-15
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilkins S
(2023)
First light and reionization epoch simulations (FLARES) V: the redshift frontier
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilkins S
(2023)
First light and reionization epoch simulations (FLARES) XI: [O iii ] emitting galaxies at 5 < z < 10
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wijers N
(2019)
The abundance and physical properties of O vii and O viii X-ray absorption systems in the EAGLE simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wijers N
(2022)
The warm-hot circumgalactic medium around EAGLE-simulation galaxies and its detection prospects with X-ray-line emission
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wijers N
(2020)
The warm-hot circumgalactic medium around EAGLE-simulation galaxies and its detection prospects with X-ray and UV line absorption
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Whitworth D
(2023)
Magnetic fields do not suppress global star formation in low metallicity dwarf galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Welsh L
(2023)
Towards ultra metal-poor DLAs: linking the chemistry of the most metal-poor DLA to the first stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Walker J
(2023)
A mixed-method approach to determining contact matrices in the Cox's Bazar refugee settlement.
in Royal Society open science