Development and support of BOINC and Einstein@Home

该奖项支持Einstein@home的持续运营和开发，Einstein@home是一个公共分布式计算项目，使用伯克利开放式网络计算基础设施（BOINC）构建，并由LIGO科学合作组织（LSC）用于搜索来自旋转中子星的引力波。公众可以快速轻松地在Windows、Macintosh或Linux个人计算机上安装该软件。当空闲时，他们的计算机从Einstein@home下载数据，搜索脉冲星信号，然后上传任何候选者的信息。Einstein@home被选为美国物理学会（APS）2005年世界物理年活动的重点项目，自2005年2月以来一直在运作。超过10万人参与了该项目，该项目目前正在提供超过20 Tflops的计算能力。这是（按数量级）LSC可用的最大计算资源。 该奖项支持LSC和BOINC团队之间的合作，使用基于霍夫变换的更敏感的分层方法来提高中子星星搜索的灵敏度，有可能将可检测源的数量增加一个数量级，为Einstein@home服务器提供维护和支持，为公众用户提供支持，并增强和扩展BOINC作为Einstein@home和其他分布式计算应用的基础设施的能力。该奖项将支持BOINC开发代码的稳定生产分支的生产和维护，以及在所有支持平台上使用标准软件工程实践，如单元测试。这将确保Einstein@home和其他分布式计算项目能够实现其科学目标，而无需担心底层软件基础设施的不稳定性和漏洞。爱因斯坦在1916年预测了引力波，但从未被直接探测到。激光干涉引力波天文台（LIGO）就是为此目的而建造的。它于1994年由美国国家科学基金会资助，是有史以来最灵敏的引力波探测器。自2002年以来，LIGO已经完成了四次科学运行，现在正在进行第一次以设计敏感度运行的长期科学运行。LIGO及其合作伙伴英国/德国GEO 600探测器的数据中隐藏着来自旋转中子星的微弱信号，但搜索它们需要比传统计算集群更多的计算能力。Einstein@home不仅支持这种类型的搜索，还允许世界上任何拥有最新计算机的人参与前沿科学研究。支持和加强BOINC基础设施将使其他项目能够使用大量的计算周期，从志愿者计算，并参与公众在科学研究。这个奖项是由物理司和多学科活动办公室在数学和物理科学理事会和网络基础设施办公室支持。

This award supports the continuing operation and development of Einstein@home, a public distributed computing project built using the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) and used by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) to search for gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars. Members of the general public can quickly and easily install the software on their Windows, Macintosh, or Linux personal computer. When otherwise idle, their computer downloads data from Einstein@home, searchs it for pulsar signals, then uploads information about any candidates. Einstein@home was chosen as key project of the American Physical Society's (APS) World Year of Physics 2005 activities and has been operating since February 2005. More than 100 000 people have participated and the project is currently delivering more than 20 Tflops of computing power. This is (by an order of magnitude) the largest computing resource available to the LSC. This award supports a collaboration between the LSC and the BOINC team to increase the sensitivity of the neutron star search using a more sensitive hierarchical method based on the Hough transform with the potential to increase the number of detectable sources by an order of magnitude, to provide maintenance and support for the Einstein@home server, to provide support for the public users, and to enhance and extend the capabilities of BOINC as infrastructure both for Einstein@home and for other applications of distributed computing. This award will support the production and maintenance of a stable production branch of the BOINC development code and the use of standard software engineering practices such as unit tests on all supported platforms. This will ensure that Einstein@home and other distributed computing projects can achieve their scientific goals without concern for instability and bugs in the underlying software infrastructure.Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein in 1916, but have never been directly detected. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) was built for this purpose. Funded by the NSF in 1994, it is the most sensitive detector of gravitational waves ever built. LIGO has completed four science runs since 2002 and is now in the midst of its first long science run operating at design sensitivity. Hidden in the data from LIGO and its partner British/German GEO600 detector are weak signals from spinning neutron stars, but searching for them requires far more computing power than is available in conventional computing clusters. Einstein@home not only enables this type of search but also allows anyone in the world with a reasonably up-to-date computer to participate in forefront scientific research. Supporting and enhancing the BOINC infrastructure will enable other projects to use the vast number of compute cycles available from volunteer computing and to engage the public in scientific research.This award is supported by the Physics Division and Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and by the Office of Cyberinfrastructure.