MRI: Acquisition of a Computing Cluster for Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Research at the University of Richmond

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该合同将支持一个15节点的计算集群和6tbyte的存储，以支持里士满大学天体物理学和核物理学的合作研究项目，提高教师的生产力，并帮助培训学生掌握现代数据挖掘技术、模拟和高性能计算。由PI Bunn领导的国家科学基金会资助的天体物理学研究集中在MBI/BRAIN的模拟上，这是一种新的宇宙微波背景偏振仪，由布朗大学和威斯康星大学的研究人员与以巴黎大学为中心的一个欧洲小组合作建造。这台仪器是计划中的未来星载望远镜的技术探路者，其最终目标是探测宇宙早期膨胀产生的引力波的特征。核物理学研究的重点是揭示核子的结构和夸克约束的性质。这个项目包括提取中子中电荷和电流的分布，并通过最简单的原子核氘核的分裂来测量核力的性质。该奖项获得的设备将通过减少阻碍学习和有意义的本科生研究参与的冗长处理时间，提高本科生对这些前沿项目的参与度。它也会给学生设计和执行大型项目的经验。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award will support a 15-node computing cluster and 6 TByte of storage to support co-operating research programs in astrophysics and nuclear physics at the University of Richmond, making faculty more productive and helping train students in modern data mining techniques, simulation, and high-performance computing. The NSF-funded astrophysics research led by PI Bunn focuses on simulations of MBI/BRAIN, a new cosmic microwave background polarimeter being built by researchers at Brown University and the University of Wisconsin, in collaboration with a European group centered at the Universite de Paris. This instrument is a technology pathfinder for a planned future satellite-borne telescope, with the ultimate goal of detecting the signature of gravitational waves produced by inflation in the very early Universe. The nuclear physics research centers on unraveling the structure of the nucleon and the nature of quark confinement. This project involves extracting the distribution of charge and current in the neutron, and measuring the properties of the nuclear force via the breakup of the simplest nucleus, the deuteron.The equipment obtained with this award will enhance the engagement of undergraduates in these cutting-edge projects, by reducing the extended processing times that are a barrier to learning and meaningful undergraduate student research involvement. It will also give students experience with the design and execution of large-scale projects.