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
Kukstas E
(2020)
Environment from cross-correlations: connecting hot gas and the quenching of galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kukstas E
(2023)
GOGREEN: A critical assessment of environmental trends in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations at z ˜ 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kulier A
(2023)
Ram Pressure Stripping in the EAGLE Simulation
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kulier A
(2023)
Ram pressure stripping in the EAGLE simulation
Kume A
(2020)
Shape analysis of H ii regions - II. Synthetic observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lander S
(2019)
Magnetic-field evolution in a plastically failing neutron-star crust
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lara-Lopez M
(2019)
Oxygen yields as a constraint on feedback processes in galaxies
Lara-López M
(2019)
Oxygen yields as a constraint on feedback processes in galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee E
(2022)
A multisimulation study of relativistic SZ temperature scalings in galaxy clusters and groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Leo M
(2019)
High-redshift test of gravity using enhanced growth of small structures probed by the neutral hydrogen distribution
in Physical Review D
Li B
(2020)
Measuring the baryon acoustic oscillation peak position with different galaxy selections
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Li N
(2021)
The impact of line-of-sight structures on measuring H 0 with strong lensing time delays
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Li Q
(2019)
The dust-to-gas and dust-to-metal ratio in galaxies from z = 0 to 6
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
Loi C
(2023)
SYCL compute kernels for ExaHyPE
Lovell C
(2021)
Reproducing submillimetre galaxy number counts with cosmological hydrodynamic simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell C
(2023)
First light and reionisation epoch simulations (FLARES) - VIII. The emergence of passive galaxies at z = 5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell C
(2021)
An Orientation Bias in Observations of Submillimetre Galaxies
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)
An orientation bias in observations of submillimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lovell M
(2020)
Local group star formation in warm and self-interacting dark matter cosmologies
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
Ludlow A
(2019)
Energy equipartition between stellar and dark matter particles in cosmological simulations results in spurious growth of galaxy sizes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Macpherson H
(2021)
Luminosity distance and anisotropic sky-sampling at low redshifts: A numerical relativity study
in Physical Review D
Macpherson H
(2023)
Cosmological distances with general-relativistic ray tracing: framework and comparison to cosmographic predictions
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Macpherson H
(2021)
Erratum: Luminosity distance and anisotropic sky-sampling at low redshifts: A numerical relativity study [Phys. Rev. D 104 , 023525 (2021)]
in Physical Review D
MacTaggart D
(2021)
Direct evidence that twisted flux tube emergence creates solar active regions.
in Nature communications
Manera M
(2021)
Obtaining nonlinear galaxy bias constraints from galaxy-lensing phase differences
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
(2023)
The Pandora project - I. The impact of radiation, magnetic fields, and cosmic rays on the baryonic and dark matter properties of dwarf galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Martinez-Delgado D
(2021)
Hidden depths in the local Universe: The Stellar Stream Legacy Survey
Martínez-Delgado D
(2023)
Hidden depths in the local Universe: The Stellar Stream Legacy Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mayes R
(2021)
Contribution of stripped nuclei to the ultracompact dwarf galaxy population in the Virgo cluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society