Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, have achieved a pioneering milestone in astronomy by conducting the most extensive simulation of the cosmos to date.
The simulation was performed on Frontier, the world’s second-fastest supercomputer, housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to explore complex “cosmological hydrodynamics.”
Frontier distinguishes itself as more than just an ordinary supercomputing titan. This behemoth operates at an astonishing rate of 1.1 exaFLOPS, which translates to a staggering 1.1 quintillion calculations per second. Equipped with 9,472 of AMD’s CPUs and 37,888 GPUs, Frontier was the original exascale supercomputer, overshadowed only by El Capitan, which achieves 1.742 exaFLOPS.
The Role of HACC in Universe Simulation
This significant achievement was brought to fruition thanks to the Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code (HACC), a tool developed over a decade ago that has been evolving alongside supercomputing technology improvements. Salman Habib, the director of Argonne’s computational science division, spearheaded the development for HACC, enabling its expansion from petascale to exascale computing performance.
HACC’s storied past includes running simulations on previous supercomputing champions such as Summit, which retained its position as the fastest from November 2018 until June 2020. These initial simulations delved into various cosmic mysteries, ranging from the mysteries of dark energy to the effects of giant neutrinos.
Habib remarked on the limitations of previous technologies in simulations, “Until recently, envisioning a simulation of this magnitude was a far-off dream, limited to gravity-only approximations.” However, Frontier’s simulations have now incorporated a more comprehensive spread of physical forces, fleshing out a fine-tuned universe model that extends further than gravitational forces alone.
The ExaSky initiative, a grand investment of $1.8 billion, sees Frontier’s use as a monumental aid to astronomers. It enables them to align and adjust their cosmic theories via simulated data that can be corroborated with observations from telescopic surveys, shedding light on the characteristics of dark matter and energy.
Bronson Messer, the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s director of science, emphasized the importance of integrating both baryonic matter and dynamic physics into these simulations. He acknowledged Frontier’s endeavor as a truly groundbreaking force.
The utilization of Frontier and HACC exemplifies the synergy between advanced computing and astrophysical research. The resulting simulations promise to offer the astronomical community invaluable insights, possibly revolutionizing our understanding of the universe’s structure and evolution.
