The UK's DiRAC supercomputers, some components now five years old and at risk of sudden failure, are being upgraded to prevent a collapse in theoretical physics research across the country. These machines run the vast calculations that allow physicists to test theories against real data from experiments like the Large Hadron Collider and telescopes observing distant galaxies. Without this upgrade, the loss of any single DiRAC service would halt hundreds of peer-reviewed papers each year—the facility currently produces more than 250 annually. The new hardware will let researchers simulate black hole mergers like those detected by LIGO, model galaxy formation with unprecedented realism, and probe the interiors of stars and planets. This is fundamental science: it asks how the Universe began, what it is made of, and how it evolves. There is no immediate practical application, but past investments in such computational infrastructure have driven advances in code optimisation, data visualisation, and high-performance computing techniques that later found uses in industry and engineering. The upgrade buys time and capability while next-generation DiRAC3 systems are developed.
View original technical description
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.
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