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
Linh B
(2021)
Investigation of the ground-state spin inversion in the neutron-rich Cl 47 , 49 isotopes
in Physical Review C
Manera M
(2021)
Obtaining nonlinear galaxy bias constraints from galaxy-lensing phase differences
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hatton D
(2021)
Bottomonium precision tests from full lattice QCD: Hyperfine splitting, ? leptonic width, and b quark contribution to e + e - ? hadrons
in Physical Review D
Clough K
(2021)
Continuity equations for general matter: applications in numerical relativity
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Pedersen C
(2021)
An emulator for the Lyman-a forest in beyond-?CDM cosmologies
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Santos-Santos I
(2021)
Satellite mass functions and the faint end of the galaxy mass-halo mass relation in LCDM
Lovell C
(2021)
An Orientation Bias in Observations of Submillimetre Galaxies
Hernández-Aguayo C
(2021)
Fast full $N$-body simulations of generic modified gravity: derivative coupling models
Irodotou D
(2021)
Using angular momentum maps to detect kinematically distinct galactic components
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
Elliott E
(2021)
Efficient exploration and calibration of a semi-analytical model of galaxy formation with deep learning
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Acuto A
(2021)
The BAHAMAS project: evaluating the accuracy of the halo model in predicting the non-linear matter power spectrum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chan T
(2021)
Smoothed particle radiation hydrodynamics: two-moment method with local Eddington tensor closure
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Becker C
(2021)
Proca-stinated cosmology. Part II. Matter, halo, and lensing statistics in the vector Galileon
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Hatton D
(2021)
Determination of m ¯ b / m ¯ c and m ¯ b from n f = 4 lattice QCD + QED
in Physical Review D
Baxter E
(2021)
The correlation of high-redshift galaxies with the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect traces reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fyfe L
(2021)
Forward modelling of heating within a coronal arcade
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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
Traykova D
(2021)
Dynamical friction from scalar dark matter in the relativistic regime
in Physical Review D
Errani R
(2021)
The asymptotic tidal remnants of cold dark matter subhaloes
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
Shao S
(2021)
The twisted dark matter halo of the Milky Way
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mitchell M
(2021)
The impact of modified gravity on the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nightingale J
(2021)
PyAutoLens: Open-Source Strong Gravitational Lensing
Koudmani S
(2021)
A little FABLE: exploring AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies with cosmological simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Grand R
(2021)
Determining the full satellite population of a Milky Way-mass halo in a highly resolved cosmological hydrodynamic simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Drewes N
(2021)
On the Dynamics of Low-viscosity Warped Disks around Black Holes
in The Astrophysical Journal
Treß R
(2021)
Simulations of the star-forming molecular gas in an interacting M51-like galaxy: cloud population statistics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Buividovich P
(2021)
Static magnetic susceptibility in finite-density $$SU\left( 2\right) $$ lattice gauge theory
in The European Physical Journal A
Bamber J
(2021)
Quasinormal modes of growing dirty black holes
in Physical Review D
Nixon C
(2021)
Partial, Zombie, and Full Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes
in The Astrophysical Journal
Haworth T
(2021)
Warm millimetre dust in protoplanetary discs near massive stars
Glowacki M
(2021)
The redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation in SIMBA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aylett-Bullock J
(2021)
June: open-source individual-based epidemiology simulation.
in Royal Society open science
Nazari Z
(2021)
Oscillon collapse to black holes
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Van Loon M
(2021)
Explaining the scatter in the galaxy mass-metallicity relation with gas flows
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ho S
(2021)
How Identifying Circumgalactic Gas by Line-of-sight Velocity instead of the Location in 3D Space Affects O vi Measurements
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mitchell M
(2021)
A general framework to test gravity using galaxy clusters IV: cluster and halo properties in DGP gravity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Robertson A
(2021)
The galaxy-galaxy strong lensing cross-sections of simulated ?CDM galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters