MRI/RUI: Acquisition of a Linux Cluster for Numerical Simulations of Excitable Media

摘要建议编号：CTS-0319555首席研究员：蒙特克莱尔州立大学R.Zaritski这笔赠款将促进获得总峰值性能为每秒1500亿次浮点运算的Linux集群。暂时，该群集将由32个通过千兆以太网互连的双AMD Athlon节点组成。它的主要用途是对可激发介质中的螺旋波和涡旋波相互作用进行数值模拟。这一高度多学科的研究项目是首席研究员R.Zaritski博士(蒙特克莱尔州立大学)和A.Pertsov博士(纽约州立大学北部医科大学)共同努力的成果。它涉及应用和计算数学、化学和生物、物理和计算机科学。为了提高利用率，该集群还将用于疾病动力学的数值模拟，这是由蒙特克莱尔州立大学L.Billings博士领导的一个辅助研究项目，可能还用于其他辅助项目。可兴奋介质的例子包括各种物理、化学和生物系统。两个最著名的例子是心脏组织中的Belousov-Zhabotinsky(BZ)化学反应和电化学反应。事实上，所有已知的可激发介质都支持特殊的涡旋波，称为二维螺旋波和三维涡旋波。人类心脏中的螺旋波和涡旋波对应于心律失常，这是工业化国家的主要死亡原因。相互作用的螺旋波和涡旋波被认为是纤颤的主要机制，纤颤是最致命的心律失常。螺旋波和涡旋波的相互作用已经被研究了很多年，但还没有被很好地理解。这种相互作用的数值模拟是非常计算密集的，特别是在三维情况下，需要超级计算资源。蒙特克莱尔州立大学这个项目的更广泛影响将包括：增强大学的高性能计算基础设施，吸引更多学生动手进行多学科研究，以及建立和加强教学和研究型大学之间的跨机构研究伙伴关系。蒙特克莱尔州立大学是一所主要的公立机构，主要是本科生，服务于新泽西州的多样化人口。最终，对可兴奋介质的计算机建模可能会导致对心律失常的更好预测和控制，以及基于化学反应的新计算范例。拟议的调查结果将通过国家和国际专业期刊和会议传播。

ABSTRACTProposal No. CTS-0319555Principal Investigator: R. Zaritski, Montclair State UniversityThe grant will facilitate acquisition of a Linux cluster with a total peak performance of 150 billion floating point operations per second. Tentatively, the cluster will consist of 32 dual AMD Athlon nodes interconnected by Gigabit Ethernet. Its main intended use is for numerical simulations of spiral and scroll wave interactions in excitable media. This highly multidisciplinary research project is a collaborative effort between the principal investigator, Dr. R. Zaritski (Montclair State University), and Dr. A. Pertsov (SUNY Upstate Medical University). It involves Applied and Computational Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology, Physics and Computer Science. To increase utilization, the cluster will also be used for numerical simulations of disease dynamics, an auxiliary research project headed by Dr. L. Billings (Montclair State University), and, possibly, for other auxiliary projects.Examples of excitable media include a variety of physical, chemical, and biological systems. Two most well-known examples are Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) chemical reaction and electrochemical activity in the cardiac tissue. Virtually all known excitable media support special vortex-like waves known as spiral waves in two dimensions and scroll waves in three dimensions. Spiral and scroll waves in human heart correspond to cardiac arrhythmias, the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. Interacting spiral and scroll waves are believed to be the primary mechanism of fibrillation, the most deadly cardiac arrhythmia. Spiral and scroll wave interactions have been studied for many years, but are not yet well understood. Numerical simulations of such interactions are very computationally intensive and, especially in the three-dimensional case, require supercomputing resources.The broader impact of this project at Montclair State University, which is a major public, predominantly undergraduate institution serving the diverse New Jersey population, will include: enhancing the university high-performance computing infrastructure, attracting more students to hands-on multidisciplinary research, and establishing and strengthening a cross-institutional research partnership between a teaching and a research university. Eventually, computer modeling of excitable media may lead to better prediction and control of heart arrhythmias and to new computing paradigms, based on chemical reactions. Results of the proposed investigation will be disseminated through national and international professional journals and meetings.