MRI: Acquisition of a High-Performance Computer Cluster for Gravitational-Wave Astronomy with Advanced LIGO

该奖项支持购买一台超级计算机，该计算机将由加州州立大学富勒顿分校（CSUF）引力波物理与天文中心（GWPAC）的研究人员使用。引力波是时空扭曲的涟漪；像先进激光干涉仪引力波天文台（Advanced LIGO）这样的实验很快就会达到天体物理学的高度，可以观测黑洞和中子星碰撞产生的引力波。观察尽可能多的引力波，并尽可能多地了解它们的来源，这需要一代学生对用于模拟和探测引力波的高性能计算（HPC）硬件和软件有广泛的了解。GWPAC将利用超级计算机培训学生研究人员在高性能计算和引力波科学方面，使学生能够在引力波物理学和天文学领域做出重大贡献。GWPAC的研究人员将利用这台超级计算机，通过i)模拟黑洞和中子星的碰撞来预测它们发射的引力波，ii)开发工具来识别和去除探测器数据中可以模拟引力波信号的伪像，以及iii)调查引力波观测是否可以帮助我们了解物质在中子星极端条件下的行为。在爱因斯坦预言引力波的存在近一个世纪之后，对引力波的直接探测即将到来，有望开启天文学的新时代。对预期波形的准确预测，对探测器的全面表征，以及从探测中提取天体物理信息的潜力的探索，都需要高性能计算。该合同将利用现有的基础设施将CSUF的第一个研究级HPC集群的计算核心数量增加一倍（从240个增加到480个）。GWPAC的研究人员将利用这个星团来模拟更多的黑洞和中子星碰撞，开发新的工具来表征和评估对高级LIGO探测器的数据质量影响，并探索如何在中子星波形模型中加入更现实的天体物理学，从而扩大我们可以从探测中提取的信息，包括中子星状态方程。扩大后的集群将扩大GWPAC学生的科学影响力，并将加强CSUF与外部合作的联系。该集群将为CSUF的学生提供更多的机会，以获得可转移的计算技能，同时在准备首次直接探测引力波方面发挥重要作用。CSUF主要是一所本科生和西班牙裔服务机构。

This award supports the purchase of a supercomputer that will be used by researchers in California State University Fullerton's (CSUF's) Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy Center (GWPAC). Gravitational waves are ripples of warped space and time; experiments such as the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO) will soon have the astrophysical reach to observe gravitational waves from colliding black holes and neutron stars. Observing as many of these waves as possible and learning as much as possible about their sources require a generation of students with extensive knowledge of the high-performance computing (HPC) hardware and software used to model and detect gravitational waves. GWPAC will use the supercomputer to train student researchers in HPC and gravitational-wave science, empowering students to make significant contributions to the field of gravitational-wave physics and astronomy. GWPAC researchers will use the supercomputer to help maximize the scientific payoff of Advanced LIGO by i) simulating colliding black holes and neutron stars to predict the gravitational waves they emit, ii) developing tools to identify and remove artifacts in detector data that could mimic gravitational wave signals, and iii) investigating whether gravitational-wave observations can help us learn how matter behaves in the extreme conditions present in neutron stars.The imminent direct detection of gravitational waves, nearly a century after Einstein predicted their existence, promises to inaugurate a new era of astronomy. Accurate predictions of the expected waveforms, thorough characterization of the detectors, and exploration of the potential for extracting astrophysical information from detections each require HPC. This award will leverage existing infrastructure to double the number of compute cores (from 240 to 480) of CSUF's first research HPC cluster of its scale. GWPAC researchers will use the cluster to simulate many more collisions of black holes and neutron stars, to develop new tools to characterize and assess data-quality impacts on the Advanced LIGO detectors, and to explore how including more realistic astrophysics in neutron-star waveform models could broaden the information we can extract from detections to include the neutron-star equation of state. The expanded cluster will magnify GWPAC's students' scientific impact and will strengthen CSUF's links with external collaborations. The cluster will provide students at CSUF, a primarily undergraduate and Hispanic-serving institution, with enhanced opportunities to acquire transferable computing skills while playing important roles in preparing for the first direct detections of gravitational waves.