DiRAC SMP Facility: Revealing the Structure of the Universe

这项提议旨在解决有关宇宙的基本结构以及其中的星系、恒星和行星的起源和性质的关键问题。这项提议是为了加强STFC DIRAC设施，该设施为英国粒子物理学家、宇宙学家和天体物理学家提供了主要的计算平台。该提案将为DiRAC SMP节点提供资金，这是一个高度灵活的共享内存(SMP)系统，具有高达16TB的全球可寻址内存，这将是欧洲最大的此类系统，也是世界上第一个拥有许多集成核心加速器的此类系统。这个HPC系统将致力于推进对早期宇宙、宇宙微波天空和太阳系外行星的研究。这项建议将促进我们在三个关键科学领域的理解：a.科学利用宇宙微波天空和大规模结构调查：宇宙微波背景(CMB)仍然是宇宙学信息的主要来源。普朗克卫星数据极大地取代了之前的WMAP卫星，许多COSMOS联盟成员在其中发挥了主导作用。新的SMP节点将被积极用于开辟CMB科学的新前沿，这将限制基础宇宙学。由于关键的普朗克数据计划于2013年和2014年发布，拟议的SMP升级将在战略上安排时间，以利用普朗克专有数据，在发布之前最大限度地利用英国成员的科学利用。关于大尺度结构的补充工作将涵盖一系列主题，从使用调查来约束宇宙的基本属性，到理解星系的等级形成和揭示其详细属性。B.早期宇宙的观测结果。宇宙联盟率先使用格子场理论模拟来理解早期宇宙中非线性现象的物理学。从基本理论(如力的统一、宇宙缺陷、额外维度、弦理论和M理论)衍生的大多数宇宙学模型中都预计会出现这样的新纪元。使用新的SMP节点的挑战将是识别和计算这些理论的可观测结果，这些理论的范围从宇宙微波背景或宇宙大尺度结构中的签名到暗物质或原始引力波的产生。c.太阳系外行星及其大气。DiRAC SMP节点还将支持奇迹联盟在太阳外行星方面的关键英国研究。这与系外行星及其大气层的观测和特征有关，开发对这一国际努力至关重要的关键数字代码。新的SMP系统将允许从系外行星环境的光谱数据中提取更多信息。这将帮助我们回答一些最古老的科学问题，例如：在我们的太阳系之外有世界吗？它们是数量众多还是稀有？他们中有多少人拥有适合生命的条件？

This proposal aims to address key questions about the fundamental structure of the Universe and the origin and nature of the galaxies, stars and planets within it. This proposal is to enhance the STFC DiRAC Facility which provides the primary computational platform for UK particle physicists, cosmologists and astrophysicists. The proposal will fund the DiRAC SMP Node, a highly flexible shared-memory (SMP) system with up to 16TB of globally addressable memory, which will be the largest such system in Europe and the first of its kind in the world to have Many Integrated Core accelerators. This HPC system will aim to advance the study of the early universe, the cosmic microwave sky and extra-solar planets. The unique SMP capabilities of this flexible architecture will be available to the wider community of DiRAC users.This proposal will advance our understanding in three key scientific areas:A. Science exploitation of the Cosmic Microwave Sky and Large-scale Structure surveys: The cosmic microwave background (CMB) remains the premier source for cosmological information. Planck satellite data, in which many COSMOS consortium members have leading roles, dramatically supersedes the previous WMAP satellite. The new SMP node will be actively used to open up new frontiers in CMB science which will constrain fundamental cosmology. With key Planck data releases scheduled for 2013 and 2014, the proposed SMP upgrade would be timed strategically to leverage the proprietary Planck data, maximizing science exploitation by UK members prior to release. Complementary work on large-scale structure will encompass a range of topics, from using surveys to constrain fundamental properties of the Universe, to understanding the hierarchical formation of galaxies and uncovering their detailed properties. B. Observational consequences of the Early Universe. The COSMOS consortium has pioneered the use of lattice field theory simulations to understand the physics of non-linear phenomena in the early universe. Such epochs are expected in most cosmological models derived from fundamental theories such as the unification of forces, cosmic defects, extra dimensions, and string and M-theory. The challenge using the new SMP node will be to identify and calculate the observable consequences of these theories, which can range from signatures in the cosmic microwave background or the large-scale structure of the universe through to the production of dark matter or primordial gravitational waves.C. Extra-solar planets and their atmospheres.The DiRAC SMP node will also support key UK research in extra-solar planets by the Miracle consortium. This is concerned with the observation and characterisation of exoplanets and their atmospheres, developing key numerical codes which are vital to this international endeavour. The new SMP system will allow much more information to be extracted from spectroscopic data from exoplanet environments. This will help us answer some of the oldest questions in science such as: Are there worlds beyond our solar system? Are they numerous or rare? How many of them have the right conditions for life?