The UK’s DiRAC supercomputing facility is running the numbers on the early universe, simulating everything from the first moments after the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies and clusters of dark matter. This matters because the most powerful theories in particle physics and cosmology—such as the Standard Model and our understanding of dark matter—can only be tested through calculations too vast for ordinary computers. Without DiRAC, UK scientists would lose the ability to compare their theoretical predictions against real astronomical observations, leaving fundamental questions about the universe’s origin and structure unanswered. The grant keeps these supercomputers running until 2017, maintaining the UK’s position as a world leader in theoretical modelling. This is fundamental science with no immediate practical application. However, similar investments in high-performance computing have historically enabled breakthroughs in materials science, climate modelling, and data analysis techniques that later found uses in industry and medicine. A deeper understanding of how galaxies form and how fundamental particles interact could, over time, feed into new technologies—but the primary payoff here is knowledge itself.
View original technical description
DiRAC (Distributed Research utilising Advanced Computing) is the integrated supercomputing facility for theoretical modelling and HPC-based research in particle physics, nuclear physics, astronomy and cosmology, areas in which the UK is world-leading. It was funded as a result of investment of £12.32 million, from the Government's Large Facilities Capital Fund, together with investment from STFC and from universities. In 2012, the DiRAC facility was upgraded with a further £15 million capital investment from government (DiRAC-2). The DiRAC facility provides a variety of computer architectures, matching machine architecture to the algorithm design and requirements of the research problems to be solved. The science facilitated includes: using supercomputers to enable scientists to calculate what theories of the early universe predict and to test them against observations of the present universe; undertaking lattice field theory calculations whose primary aim is to increase the predictive power of the Standard Model of elementary particle interactions through numerical simulation of Quantum Chromodynamics; carrying out state-of-the-art cosmological simulations, including the large-scale distribution of dark matter, the formation of dark matter haloes, the formation and evolution of galaxies and clusters, the physics of the intergalactic medium and the properties of the intracluster gas. This grant is to support the continued operation of the DiRAC facilities until 2017 to ensure that the UK remains one of the world-leaders of theoretical modelling in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know