Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Cluster Computing”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 667 records · Page 37

The hyperfine structure in the rotational spectra of D{sub 2}{sup 17}O and HD{sup 17}O: Confirmation of the absolute nuclear magnetic shielding scale for oxygen

Guided by theoretical predictions, the hyperfine structures of the rotational spectra of mono- and bideuterated-water containing {sup 17}O have been experimentally investigated. To reach sub-Doppler resolution, required to resolve the hyperfine structure due to deuterium quadrupole coupling as well as to spin-rotation (SR) and dipolar spin-spin couplings, the Lamb-dip technique has been employed. The experimental investigation and in particular, the spectral analysis have been supported by high-level quantum-chemical computations employing coupled-cluster techniques and, for the first time, a complete experimental determination of the hyperfine parameters involved was possible. The experimentally determined {sup 17}O spin-rotation constants of D{sub 2}{sup 17}O and HD{sup 17}O were used to derive the paramagnetic part of the corresponding nuclear magnetic shielding constants. Together with the computed diamagnetic contributions as well as the vibrational and temperature corrections, the latter constants have been employed to confirm the oxygen nuclear magnetic shielding scale, recently established on the basis of spin-rotation data for H{sub 2}{sup 17}O [Puzzarini et al., J. Chem. Phys. 131, 234304 (2009)].

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Elucidating the Molecular Origins of the Transference Number in Battery Electrolytes Using Computer Simulations

The rate at which rechargeable batteries can be charged and discharged is governed by the selective transport of the working ions through the electrolyte. Conductivity, the parameter commonly used to characterize ion transport in electrolytes, reflects the mobility of both cations and anions. The transference number, a parameter introduced over a century ago, sheds light on the relative rates of cation and anion transport. This parameter is, not surprisingly, affected by cation–cation, anion–anion, and cation–anion correlations. In addition, it is affected by correlations between the ions and neutral solvent molecules. Computer simulations have the potential to provide insights into the nature of these correlations. We review the dominant theoretical approaches used to predict the transference number from simulations by using a model univalent lithium electrolyte. In electrolytes of low concentration, one can obtain a quantitative model by assuming that the solution is made up of discrete ion-containing clusters–neutral ion pairs, negatively and positively charged triplets, neutral quadruplets, and so on. These clusters can be identified in simulations using simple algorithms, provided their lifetimes are sufficiently long. In concentrated electrolytes, more clusters are short-lived and more rigorous approaches that account for all correlations are necessary to quantify transference. Elucidating the molecular origin of the transference number in this limit remains an unmet challenge.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

FY 18 Status Report on the Computing Systems for the Yucca Mountain Project TSPA-LA Models and Inventory of Software used for Process Models

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) continued evaluation of total system performance assessment (TSPA) computing systems for the previously considered Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). This was done to maintain the operational readiness of the computing infrastructure (computer hardware and software) and knowledge capability for total system performance assessment (TSPA) type analysis, as directed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), DOE 2010. This work is a continuation of the ongoing readiness evaluation reported in Lee and Hadgu (2014), Hadgu et al. (2015) and Hadgu and Appel (2016), and Hadgu et al. (2017). The TSPA computing hardware (2014 server cluster -CL2014) and storage system described in Hadgu et al. (2015) were used for the current analysis. One floating license of Gold Sim with Versions 9.60.300, 10.5, 11.1 and 12.0 was installed on the cluster head node, and its distributed processing capability was mapped on the cluster processors. Other supporting software were tested and installed to support the TSPA-type analysis on the server cluster. The FY18 task included developing an inventory of software used for the Yucca Mountain Project process models and preliminary assessment of status of the software; enhancing security of the cluster and setting a backup system. The 2014 server cluster and supporting software systems are fully operational to support TSPA-LA type analysis.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Density Functional Tight Binding Insights into Plasmonic Silver–Platinum Nanoparticles and Alloys for Enhanced Photocatalysis

Developing accurate and efficient Slater-Koster (SK) tight-binding parameter sets is essential for quantum plasmonic studies of alloyed metal nanoparticles, as conventional time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations are computationally prohibitive for larger clusters. In this work, we develop and validate density functional tight binding (DFTB) parameter sets for both ground state (GS-SK) and excited state (ES-SK) calculations to study the structural, electronic, and optical properties of silver (Ag), platinum (Pt), and Ag–Pt nanoalloys. Our investigation of the ground state properties demonstrates that the GS-SK parameters enable DFTB to closely reproduce the electronic structures of platinum clusters with diverse sizes and geometries – showing qualitative agreement with DFT for density of states (DOS) profiles and energy levels. The ES-SK parameters accurately describe excited-state properties compared to TD-DFT reference calculations, including the broad, featureless absorption profiles of Pt that are dominated by interband transitions. Using the ES-SK parameters within a real-time TD-DFTB framework, we compute size-dependent optical absorption spectra of Ag, Pt and Ag-Pt nanocubes containing up to 1099 atoms (size ∼4.18 nm). A detailed study of Ag–Pt and Pt-Ag core–shell nanoparticles shows quenching of the Ag plasmon resonance even at monolayer coverage for Ag-Pt, but not for Pt-Ag. We also show how to define submonolayer Ag-core Pt-shell cubic structures that have similar optical properties to those generated experimentally for much larger particles, which offers potential for describing plasmon-enhanced photocatalysis. Collectively, the GS-SK and ES-SK parameter sets provide an accurate, computationally efficient approach for modeling the complex optical and electronic behavior of noble–transition metal nanostructures and their alloys.

SPR↗

Optimization of the Coupled Cluster Implementation in NWChem on Petascale Parallel Architectures

Coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) algorithm has been optimized in NWChem software package. This modification alleviated the communication bottleneck and provided from 2- to 5-fold speedup in the CCSD iteration time depending on the problem size and available memory. Sustained 0.60 petaflop/sec performance on CCSD(T) calculation has been obtained on NCSA Blue Waters. This number included all stages of the calculation from initialization till termination, iterative computation of single and double excitations, and perturbative accounting for triple excitations. In the section of perturbative triples alone, the computation maintained 1.18 petaflop/sec performance level. CCSD computations have been performed on Guanine-Cytosine deoxydinucleotide monophosphate (GC-dDMP) to probe the conformational energy difference in DNA single strand in A- and B-conformations. The computation revealed significant discrepancy between CCSD and classical force fields in prediction of relative energy of A- and B-conformations of GC-dDMP.

calculations↗

Tensor-structured coupled cluster theory

We derive and implement a new way of solving coupled cluster equations with lower computational scaling. Our method is based on the decomposition of both amplitudes and two electron integrals, using a combination of tensor hypercontraction and canonical polyadic decomposition. While the original theory scales as O ( N 6 ) with respect to the number of basis functions, we demonstrate numerically that we achieve sub-millihartree difference from the original theory with O ( N 4 ) scaling. This is accomplished by solving directly for the factors that decompose the cluster operator. Here, the proposed scheme is quite general and can be easily extended to other many-body methods.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Ruprecht 147: A Paradigm of Dissolving Star Cluster

We employed recent Gaia/DR2 data to investigate the dynamical status of the nearby (300 pc), old (2.5 Gyr) open cluster Ruprecht 147. We found prominent leading and trailing tails of stars along the cluster orbit, which demonstrates that Ruprecht 147 is losing stars at fast pace. Star counts indicate the cluster has a core radius of 33.3 arcmin and a tidal radius of 137.5 arcmin. The cluster also possesses an extended corona, which cannot be reproduced by a simple King model. We computed the present-day cluster mass using its luminosity and mass function, and derived an estimate of 234 ± 52 M {sub ⊙}. We also estimated the cluster original mass using available recipes extracted from N-body simulations obtaining a mass at birth of 50,000 ± 6500 M {sub ⊙}. Therefore dynamical mass loss, mostly caused by tidal interaction with the Milky Way, reduced the cluster mass by about 99%. We then conclude that Ruprecht 147 is rapidly dissolving into the general Galactic disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Gaussian mixture models as automated particle classifiers for fast neutron detectors

Pulse shape discrimination (PSD) is the task of classifying electronic pulse shapes for different particle types such as gamma rays and fast neutrons interacting in scintillators and read out by photo sensitive detectors. This field has been limited in its adoption of techniques found in the statistical learning community. Methods initially employed in the 1960s for analog electronic circuitry persist in the current PSD literature describing operations performed on digitized pulses, which are amenable to statistical rigor. Despite vast amounts of data collected at low energy levels, traditional PSD methods are unable to discriminate particles below a certain threshold. As such, in this work, Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) are used as a clustering technique for fast neutron detection in the absence of labeled data. GMMs yield improvements spanning the energy spectrum in a desirably efficient, unsupervised fashion. An extension, the Dirichlet Process GMM, provides further flexibility and classification improvement.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Charliecloud

Charliecloud is a set of scripts to let users run a virtual cluster of virtual machines (VMs) on a desktop or supercomputer. Key functions include: 1. Creating (typically by installing an operating system from vendor media) and updating VM images; 2. Running a single VM; 3. Running multiple VMs in a virtual cluster. The virtual machines can talk to one another over the network and (in some cases) the outside world. This is accomplished by calling external programs such as QEMU and the Virtual Distributed Ethernet (VDE) suite. The goal is to let users have a virtual cluster containing nodes where they have privileged access, while isolating that privilege within the virtual cluster so it cannot affect the physical compute resources. Host configuration enforces security; this is not included in Charliecloud, though security guidelines are included in its documentation and Charliecloud is designed to facilitate such configuration. Charliecloud manages passing information from host computers into and out of the virtual machines, such as parameters of the virtual cluster, input data specified by the user, output data from virtual compute jobs, VM console display, and network connections (e.g., SSH or X11). Parameters for the virtual cluster (number of VMs, RAM and disk per VM, etc.) are specified by the user or gathered from the environment (e.g., SLURM environment variables). Example job scripts are included. These include computation examples (such as a "hello world" MPI job) as well as performance tests. They also include a security test script to verify that the virtual cluster is appropriately sandboxed. Tests include: 1. Pinging hosts inside and outside the virtual cluster to explore connectivity; 2. Port scans (again inside and outside) to see what services are available; 3. Sniffing tests to see what traffic is visible to running VMs; 4. IP address spoofing to test network functionality in this case; 5. File access tests to make sure host access permissions are enforced. This test script is not a comprehensive scanner and does not test for specific vulnerabilities. Importantly, no information about physical hosts or network topology is included in this script (or any of Charliecloud); while part of a sensible test, such information is specified by the user when the test is run. That is, one cannot learn anything about the LANL network or computing infrastructure by examining Charliecloud code.

Priedhorsky, Reid↗

Charliecloud

Charliecloud is a set of scripts to let users run a virtual cluster of virtual machines (VMs) on a desktop or supercomputer. Key functions include: 1. Creating (typically by installing an operating system from vendor media) and updating VM images; 2. Running a single VM; 3. Running multiple VMs in a virtual cluster. The virtual machines can talk to one another over the network and (in some cases) the outside world. This is accomplished by calling external programs such as QEMU and the Virtual Distributed Ethernet (VDE) suite. The goal is to let users have a virtual cluster containing nodes where they have privileged access, while isolating that privilege within the virtual cluster so it cannot affect the physical compute resources. Host configuration enforces security; this is not included in Charliecloud, though security guidelines are included in its documentation and Charliecloud is designed to facilitate such configuration. Charliecloud manages passing information from host computers into and out of the virtual machines, such as parameters of the virtual cluster, input data specified by the user, output data from virtual compute jobs, VM console display, and network connections (e.g., SSH or X11). Parameters for the virtual cluster (number of VMs, RAM and disk per VM, etc.) are specified by the user or gathered from the environment (e.g., SLURM environment variables). Example job scripts are included. These include computation examples (such as a "hello world" MPI job) as well as performance tests. They also include a security test script to verify that the virtual cluster is appropriately sandboxed. Tests include: 1. Pinging hosts inside and outside the virtual cluster to explore connectivity; 2. Port scans (again inside and outside) to see what services are available; 3. Sniffing tests to see what traffic is visible to running VMs; 4. IP address spoofing to test network functionality in this case; 5. File access tests to make sure host access permissions are enforced. This test script is not a comprehensive scanner and does not test for specific vulnerabilities. Importantly, no information about physical hosts or network topology is included in this script (or any of Charliecloud); while part of a sensible test, such information is specified by the user when the test is run. That is, one cannot learn anything about the LANL network or computing infrastructure by examining Charliecloud code.

Priedhorsky, Reid↗

Uniformly Ordered Binary Decision Algorithm for Benchmark Experiment Correlations in Whisper Validation

When performing a validation exercise for determining the upper subcritical limit of a nuclear criticality safety application, an analyst should select and perform a statistical analysis on a population of benchmark experiments that are neutronically similar to the application. The size of this population should be sufficiently large such that the statistical analysis has a high degree of confidence that the bias plus bias uncertainty (calculational margin) has been accurately quantified. A complication arises because many benchmark experiments share common components, leading to correlations in their measured effective multiplication factors. Correlations between benchmark experiments within the population reduces its predictive power. This motivates the need for methods that consider benchmark experiment correlations and ensure adequate statistical significance of results. The Whisper code is a statistical analysis pack- age that incorporates nuclear data sensitivity coefficients from MCNP to assess benchmark experiment similarity and then performs an extreme-value analysis to estimate the bias plus bias uncertainty. The original methodology in Whisper does not consider the effect of benchmark experiment correlations when making this estimation, and this summary proposes the uniformly ordered binary decision algorithm to address this shortcoming. The original methodology in Whisper computes similarity coefficients ck for an application compared to all benchmark experiments in its library and develops weighting factors for a selected population proportional to the ck values. The methodology can be interpreted as statistically emulating a validation exercise for a particular application where the weighting factors may be viewed as the likelihood that an analyst would include a particular benchmark experiment within the population. The effective sample size of the population is the expected or mean number of benchmark experiments in the population. The uniformly ordered binary decision algorithm identifies clusters of correlated benchmark experiments within the population and then computes adjusted weighting factors based on the magnitude of the correlation coefficients within the cluster to compute a reduced effective sample size accounting for the lower information content because of correlations. Benchmark experiments within the cluster are ordered randomly with equal probability and probabilistic decisions are made as to whether a benchmark. experiment within the cluster should treated as redundant with a previous one; if two redundant benchmark experiments are included, then the conservative worst case bias plus bias uncertainty is used and the pair is counted as a single benchmark experiment in the population. Results are provided for HEU solutions in a research version of the Whisper software using benchmark experiment correlations provided by DICE, the Database for the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP). These show that there can be a significant increase in the bias plus bias uncertainty because the effective sample size is reduced, and therefore the algorithm, needing to meet sample size requirements, expands the benchmark experiment population by accepting less similar benchmark experiments that would have otherwise not been included.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A computational study of Al n - and Al n -1 1Pt - clusters: the effects of doping and a uniform tuning gauge for single-atom nanocatalysts

Results of density functional theory calculations on Al n - and Al n -1 1Pt - , n = 2-8, clusters are presented and analyzed. The analysis includes different structural forms of the clusters characterized in terms of binding energy, spin and symmetry, and a comparative evaluation of various properties of the two systems viewed as connected through a single-Pt substitutional doping and examined in terms of their respective most stable structures. Furthermore, the Al n -1 1Pt - clusters are then used as a paradigmatic (model) case of single-atom nanocatalysts, with Pt as the catalytic center and Al n-1 as its support, to implement a uniform descriptor for gauging the tuning effects of all the parameters ( "knobs ") of a nanocatalyst that include the identity of the active center and the material and size of its support.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Formulation of Multicomponent Lattice Gas Model Cluster Expansions Parameterized on Ab Initio Data: An Introduction to the Ab Initio Mean-Field Augmented Lattice Gas Modeling Code

A formalism is presented for the construction of multicomponent lattice gas models parameterized with ab initio (typically density functional theory) data. The leave-multiple-out and the leave-one-out cross validation score are showcased, and practical algorithms are developed and implemented in a new code called the Ab initio Mean-field Augmented Lattice Gas Modeling (AMALGM) code. Here, the functionality of these algorithms is demonstrated with a fully worked out example using the O/Fe(100) system. AMALGM and the formalism on which it is based are envisioned as a surface-oriented lattice gas alternative to other cluster expansion codes that are typically geared toward bulk systems whose lateral interactions between components are parameterized using an Ising model. While the formalism is created within the context of surfaces, it is equally applicable to bulk materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Parameters associated with design effect of child anthropometry indicators in small-scale field surveys

Background: Cluster surveys provide rapid but representative estimates of key nutrition indicators in humanitarian crises. For these surveys, an accurate estimate of the design effect is critical to calculate a sample size that achieves adequate precision with the minimum number of sampling units. This paper describes the variability in design effect for three key nutrition indicators measured in small-scale surveys and models the association of design effect with parameters hypothesized to explain this variability. Methods: 380 small-scale surveys from 28 countries conducted between 2006 and 2013 were analyzed. We calculated prevalence and design effect of wasting, underweight, and stunting for each survey as well as standard deviations of the underlying continuous Z-score distribution. Mean cluster size, survey location and year were recorded. To describe design effects, median and interquartile ranges were examined. Generalized linear regression models were run to identify potential predictors of design effect. Results: Median design effect was under 2.00 for all three indicators; for wasting, the median was 1.35, the lowest among the indicators. Multivariable linear regression models suggest significant, positive associations of design effect and mean cluster size for all three indicators, and with prevalence of wasting and underweight, but not stunting. Standard deviation was positively associated with design effect for wasting but negatively associated for stunting. Survey region was significant in all three models. Conclusions: This study supports the current field survey guidance recommending the use of 1.5 as a benchmark for design effect of wasting, but suggests this value may not be large enough for surveys with a primary objective of measuring stunting or underweight. The strong relationship between design effect and region in the models underscores the continued need to consider country- and locality-specific estimates when designing surveys. These models also provide empirical evidence of a positive relationship between design effect and both mean cluster size and prevalence, and introduces standard deviation of the underlying continuous variable (Z-scores) as a previously unexplored factor significantly associated with design effect. The magnitude and directionality of this association differed by indicator, underscoring the need for further investigation into the relationship between standard deviation and design effect.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Observational and Numerical Diagnostics of Galaxy Cluster Outer Regions

Aims. We present the analysis of a local (z = 0.04 - 0.2) sample of 31 galaxy clusters with the aim of measuring the density of the X-ray emitting gas in cluster outskirts. We compare our results with numerical simulations to set constraints on the azimuthal symmetry and gas clumping in the outer regions of galaxy clusters. Methods. We exploit the large field-of-view and low instrumental background of ROSAT/PSPC to trace the density of the intracluster gas out to the virial radius. We perform a stacking of the density profiles to detect a signal beyond r(sub 200) and measure the typical density and scatter in cluster outskirts. We also compute the azimuthal scatter of the profiles with respect to the mean value to look for deviations from spherical symmetry. Finally, we compare our average density and scatter profiles with the results of numerical simulations. Results. As opposed to several recent results, we observe a steepening of the density profiles beyond approximately 0.3r(sub 500). Comparing our density profiles with simulations, we find that non-radiative runs predict too steep density profiles, whereas runs including additional physics and/or gas clumping are in better agreement with the observed gas distribution. We note a systematic difference between cool-core and non-cool core clusters beyond approximately 0.3r(sub 200), which we explain by a different distribution of the gas in the two classes. Beyond approximately r(sub 500), galaxy clusters deviate significantly from spherical symmetry, with only little differences between relaxed and disturbed systems. We find good agreement between the observed and predicted scatter profiles, but only when the 1% densest clumps are filtered out in the simulations. Conclusions. The general trend of steepening density around the virial radius indicates that the shallow density profiles found in several recent works were probably obtained along particular directions (e.g., filaments) and are not representative of the typical behavior of clusters. Comparing our results with numerical simulations, we find that non-radiative simulations fail to reproduce the gas distribution, even well outside cluster cores. Therefore, a detailed treatment of gas cooling, star formation, clumping, and AGN feedback is required to construct realistic models of cluster outer regions.

Eckert, D.↗

Beyond the plane-parallel approximation for redshift surveys

Redshift -space distortions privilege the location of the observer in cosmological redshift surveys, breaking the translational symmetry of the underlying theory. This violation of statistical homogeneity has consequences for the modelling of clustering observables, leading to what are frequently called 'wide-angle effects'. We study these effects analytically, computing their signature in the clustering of the multipoles in configuration and Fourier space. We take into account both physical wide-angle contributions as well as the terms generated by the galaxy selection function. Similar considerations also affect the way power spectrum estimators are constructed. We quantify in an analytical way the biases that enter and clarify the relation between what we measure and the underlying theoretical modelling. The presence of an angular window function is also discussed. Motivated by this analysis, we present new estimators for the three dimensional Cartesian power spectrum and bispectrum multipoles written in terms of spherical Fourier-Bessel coefficients. In conclusion, we show how the latter have several interesting properties, allowing in particular a clear separation between angular and radial modes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Gas Distribution in the Outer Regions of Galaxy Clusters

Aims. We present our analysis of a local (z = 0.04 - 0.2) sample of 31 galaxy clusters with the aim of measuring the density of the X-ray emitting gas in cluster outskirts. We compare our results with numerical simulations to set constraints on the azimuthal symmetry and gas clumping in the outer regions of galaxy clusters. Methods. We have exploited the large field-of-view and low instrumental background of ROSAT/PSPC to trace the density of the intracluster gas out to the virial radius, We stacked the density profiles to detect a signal beyond T200 and measured the typical density and scatter in cluster outskirts. We also computed the azimuthal scatter of the profiles with respect to the mean value to look for deviations from spherical symmetry. Finally, we compared our average density and scatter profiles with the results of numerical simulations. Results. As opposed to some recent Suzaku results, and confirming previous evidence from ROSAT and Chandra, we observe a steepening of the density profiles beyond approximately r(sub 500). Comparing our density profiles with simulations, we find that non-radiative runs predict density profiles that are too steep, whereas runs including additional physics and/ or treating gas clumping agree better with the observed gas distribution. We report high-confidence detection of a systematic difference between cool-core and non cool-core clusters beyond approximately 0.3r(sub 200), which we explain by a different distribution of the gas in the two classes. Beyond approximately r(sub 500), galaxy clusters deviate significantly from spherical symmetry, with only small differences between relaxed and disturbed systems. We find good agreement between the observed and predicted scatter profiles, but only when the 1% densest clumps are filtered out in the ENZO simulations. Conclusions. Comparing our results with numerical simulations, we find that non-radiative simulations fail to reproduce the gas distribution, even well outside cluster cores. Although their general behavior agrees more closely with the observations, simulations including cooling and star formation convert a large amount of gas into stars, which results in a low gas fraction with respect to the observations. Consequently, a detailed treatment of gas cooling, star formation, AGN feedback, and consideration of gas clumping is required to construct realistic models of the outer regions of clusters.

Eckert, D.↗