Computer Simulation using HPC: Techniques and Applications (P02769)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : PHY-P-P02769

The course will cover the most important algorithms and techniques used in modern HPC simulations, and illustrate them with specific examples. Students will run existing codes (either standard packages or ones pre-written by EPCC) and investigate how the speed or accuracy of a simulation is affected by the choice of method or algorithmic parameters, eg timestep, parallel decomposition technique etc.

The course will cover the the following topics:
? methodology of computer simulation
? time integration methods
? the molecular-dynamics algorithm (both short and long-range forces)
? integration of PDEs on a grid (eg fluid flow)
? monte-carlo methods
? optimisation techniques
? correctness and verification

For these topics, the basic algorithms will be described and different parallelisation techniques introduced
by reference to various real applications.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

? Pre-requisites : Only postgraduates or final year MPhys students with suitable computational background, subject to space restrictions and agreement with relevant Programme Coordinator.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Postgraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy), (School of Physics and Astronomy, Schedule Q)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
15/01/2009	09:15	13:00			Training Room 3305, JCMB

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	09:00	13:00	KB

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course students should be able to:
- Explain why computer simulation is an essential technique in many areas of science, adn understand its advantages and limitations;
- Describe a range of fundamental algorithms used in large-scale computer simulations;
- Compare the strengths and weaknesses of different parallelisation strategies for different applications;
- Explain the trade-off between simulation speed adn computational accuracy inherent in most simulation techniques.