DiRAC: Memory Intensive 2.5x
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 more than 250
papers annually in international, peer-reviewed journals. However, the
DiRAC2 hardware is now at least 5 years old and is therefore at
significant risk of failure. The loss of any one of the DiRAC2
services would have a potentially disastrous impact on the research
communities which rely on it to deliver their scientific research. The
main purpose of the requested funding for the DiRAC2.5x project is to
replace the ageing DiRAC2 hardware at Durham, Edinburgh and Leicester
while taking advantage of recent hardware advances to provide some new
capabilities (e.g. i/o acceleration using flash storage) as prototypes
for the proposed DiRAC3 services.
The DiRAC-2.5x project builds on the success of the DiRAC-2.5 HPC facility and will provide the resources needed
to support cutting edge research starting from 1/4/2018 in all areas of science supported by STFC.
Specifically the funding sort by Durham will allow:
A factor 2 increase in the size of calculation that can be run at Durham, and a 50% increase in the
available computing power (assuming the current DiRAC-2.5 systems continue to operate at the current level).
The usage of the system will be decided by the DiRAC Resource Allocation Committee primarily,
but it is envisaged that the enhanced system will be used for very large calculations, for example, 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.
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 more than 250
papers annually in international, peer-reviewed journals. However, the
DiRAC2 hardware is now at least 5 years old and is therefore at
significant risk of failure. The loss of any one of the DiRAC2
services would have a potentially disastrous impact on the research
communities which rely on it to deliver their scientific research. The
main purpose of the requested funding for the DiRAC2.5x project is to
replace the ageing DiRAC2 hardware at Durham, Edinburgh and Leicester
while taking advantage of recent hardware advances to provide some new
capabilities (e.g. i/o acceleration using flash storage) as prototypes
for the proposed DiRAC3 services.
The DiRAC-2.5x project builds on the success of the DiRAC-2.5 HPC facility and will provide the resources needed
to support cutting edge research starting from 1/4/2018 in all areas of science supported by STFC.
Specifically the funding sort by Durham will allow:
A factor 2 increase in the size of calculation that can be run at Durham, and a 50% increase in the
available computing power (assuming the current DiRAC-2.5 systems continue to operate at the current level).
The usage of the system will be decided by the DiRAC Resource Allocation Committee primarily,
but it is envisaged that the enhanced system will be used for very large calculations, for example, 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.
Planned Impact
The anticipated impact of the DiRAC2.5x 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 DiRAC2.5x 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 Je-S form from Leicester, describes the overall industrial strategy for DiRAC2.5x,
including our strategic goals and key performance indicators.
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 DiRAC2.5x 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 Je-S form from Leicester, describes the overall industrial strategy for DiRAC2.5x,
including our strategic goals and key performance indicators.
Organisations
Publications
Chan T
(2024)
The impact and response of mini-haloes and the interhalo medium on cosmic reionization
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
Changeat Q
(2021)
An Exploration of Model Degeneracies with a Unified Phase Curve Retrieval Analysis: The Light and Dark Sides of WASP-43 b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Changeat Q
(2020)
KELT-11 b: Abundances of Water and Constraints on Carbon-bearing Molecules from the Hubble Transmission Spectrum
in The Astronomical Journal
Changeat Q
(2020)
TauREx3 PhaseCurve: A 1.5D Model for Phase-curve Description
in The Astrophysical Journal
Changeat Q
(2022)
On Spectroscopic Phase-curve Retrievals: H 2 Dissociation and Thermal Inversion in the Atmosphere of the Ultrahot Jupiter WASP-103 b
in The Astronomical Journal
Changeat Q
(2021)
The Hubble WFC3 Emission Spectrum of the Extremely Hot Jupiter KELT-9b
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Changeat Q
(2022)
Disentangling atmospheric compositions of K2-18 b with next generation facilities.
in Experimental astronomy
Chantereau W
(2020)
The loss of the intracluster medium in globular clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chantereau W
(2020)
The loss of the intra-cluster medium in globular clusters
Chantereau, W
(2020)
The loss of the intracluster medium in globular clusters
Chawdhry H
(2021)
NNLO QCD corrections to diphoton production with an additional jet at the LHC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Chawdhry H
(2021)
Two-loop leading-color helicity amplitudes for three-photon production at the LHC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Chawdhry H
(2021)
Two-loop leading-colour QCD helicity amplitudes for two-photon plus jet production at the LHC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Cheek A
(2022)
Redshift effects in particle production from Kerr primordial black holes
in Physical Review D
Cheek A
(2023)
Evaporation of primordial black holes in the early Universe: Mass and spin distributions
in Physical Review D
Choustikov N
(2025)
Inferring the ionizing photon contributions of high-redshift galaxies to reionization with JWST NIRCam photometry
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Choustikov N
(2024)
The great escape: understanding the connection between Ly a emission and LyC escape in simulated JWST analogues
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Christiansen J
(2020)
Jet feedback and the photon underproduction crisis in simba
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Christie D
(2021)
The impact of mixing treatments on cloud modelling in 3D simulations of hot Jupiters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chubb K
(2021)
The ExoMolOP database: Cross sections and k -tables for molecules of interest in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Chung-Jukko L
(2023)
Electromagnetic instability of compact axion stars
Chung-Jukko L
(2024)
Multimessenger signals from compact axion star mergers
in Physical Review D
Chung-Jukko L
(2023)
Electromagnetic instability of compact axion stars
in Physical Review D
Clark VHJ
(2021)
Modelling the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium spectra of silylene (SiH2).
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Clough K
(2019)
Growth of massive scalar hair around a Schwarzschild black hole
in Physical Review D
Clough K
(2022)
Ghost Instabilities in Self-Interacting Vector Fields: The Problem with Proca Fields.
in Physical review letters
Clough K
(2021)
Continuity equations for general matter: applications in numerical relativity
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Coleman G
(2024)
Constraining the formation history of the TOI-1338/BEBOP-1 circumbinary planetary system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coleman G
(2024)
Photoevaporation obfuscates the distinction between wind and viscous angular momentum transport in protoplanetary discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Conaboy L
(2023)
Relative baryon-dark matter velocities in cosmological zoom simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Constantino T
(2021)
Suppression of lithium depletion in young low-mass stars from fast rotation
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Contreras S
(2024)
Validating the clustering predictions of empirical models with the FLAMINGO simulations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cooke R
(2025)
A determination of the cosmic microwave background temperature using Galactic molecules
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cooke R
(2018)
Measurement of the primordial helium abundance from the intergalactic medium
in Nature Astronomy
Cooke R
(2018)
One Percent Determination of the Primordial Deuterium Abundance*
in The Astrophysical Journal
Cooper L
(2022)
Form factors for the processes B c + ? D 0 l + ? l and B c + ? D s + l + l - ( ? ? ¯ ) from lattice QCD
in Physical Review D
Corasaniti P
(2022)
Forecasting cosmological parameter constraints using multiple sparsity measurements as tracers of the mass profiles of dark matter haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Correa C
(2018)
The impact of feedback and the hot halo on the rates of gas accretion on to galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Correa C
(2019)
The origin of the red-sequence galaxy population in the EAGLE simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cossu G
(2021)
Nonperturbative Infrared Finiteness in a Superrenormalizable Scalar Quantum Field Theory.
in Physical review letters
Costa T
(2018)
Quenching star formation with quasar outflows launched by trapped IR radiation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coulton W
(2020)
Weak lensing minima and peaks: Cosmological constraints and the impact of baryons
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | See Dirac annual report https://dirac.ac.uk |
| Exploitation Route | See Dirac annual report https://dirac.ac.uk |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education |
| URL | https://dirac.ac.uk |