DiRAC SMP Facility: Revealing the Structure of the Universe

该提案旨在解决有关宇宙基本结构的关键问题，以及宇宙中星系、恒星和行星的起源和性质。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。该提案将资助DiRAC SMP节点，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多个集成核心加速器的系统。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。这种灵活架构的独特SMP功能将提供给更广泛的DiRAC用户社区。这一建议将促进我们在三个关键科学领域的理解：A。宇宙微波天空和大尺度结构巡天的科学开发：宇宙微波背景（CMB）仍然是宇宙信息的首要来源。普朗克卫星的数据，其中许多COSMOS联盟成员的领导作用，戏剧性地取代了以前的WMAP卫星。新的SMP节点将积极用于开辟CMB科学的新领域，这将限制基础宇宙学。由于普朗克计划在2013年和2014年发布关键数据，拟议的SMP升级将战略性地选择时间，以利用专有的普朗克数据，在发布之前最大限度地利用英国成员的科学利用。对大尺度结构的补充工作将包括一系列主题，从使用调查来约束宇宙的基本属性，到理解星系的分层形成和揭示它们的详细属性。B.早期宇宙的观测结果。COSMOS联盟率先使用晶格场理论模拟来理解早期宇宙中非线性现象的物理学。这样的时代在大多数从基本理论（如力的统一、宇宙缺陷、额外维度、弦和m理论）推导出来的宇宙学模型中都是预期的。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，这些理论的范围可以从宇宙微波背景的特征或宇宙的大规模结构到暗物质或原始引力波的产生。太阳系外行星及其大气层。DiRAC SMP节点还将支持奇迹联盟在英国对太阳系外行星的关键研究。这涉及到系外行星及其大气的观测和特征，制定对这项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，比如：在我们的太阳系之外是否存在世界？它们数量多还是稀少？它们中有多少具备适宜生命生存的条件？

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?