CAREER: Fast Methods for Particle Dynamics and Their Applications

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This project will develop innovative techniques and software for so-called"fast methods" for n-body solvers and their applications. An n-body solvercomputes the behavior of a set of interacting particles; examples run fromthe solar system (9 planets interacting through gravity) to computer chips(billions of atoms that attract or repel electrons). "Fast" methods forthese solvers use data structures such as trees to minimize the number ofcomputations. Typically, the data structure summarizes the interactions ofa group of particles, eliminating the need to compute all of the pairwiseinteractions. Managing the data structure makes these methods difficult toprogram, particularly on modern parallel machines.This project addresses algorithmic issues, serial and parallel performance,portability, and I/O requirements for fast methods for particle dynamics inselected applications. Specifically, the project makes researchcontributions in the following areas:* Error Control and Boundary Conditions: This project will extend recentwork in variable degree multipoles to improve error bounds in non-uniformparticle distributions while minimizing the added computation.* Robust Parallel Algorithms and Libraries: This project will buildcalibrated portable libraries of fast solvers capable of adapting todynamic computational platforms like clusters of multiprocessors.* Data Analysis and I/O Control: This project will investigate compressionschemes capable of effectively handling the huge amounts of data generatedby particle dynamics simulations.The education plan includes a variety of initiatives at various levels. TheComputer Applications in K-12 Education in Science (CAKE) program willintroduce pre-college students to the use of high performance computing andnetworking, using GUIs based on the research libraries as teaching tools.A series of courses, seminars, and workshops on parallel computing and itsapplications will extend the education to the undergraduate and graduatelevels at Purdue University.