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At least 1,603 records · Page 89

Implementation of Parallel Dynamic Simulation on Shared-Memory vs. Distributed-Memory Environments

Power system dynamic simulation computes the system response to a sequence of large disturbance, such as sudden changes in generation or load, or a network short circuit followed by protective branch switching operation. It consists of a large set of differential and algebraic equations, which is computational intensive and challenging to solve using single-processor based dynamic simulation solution. High-performance computing (HPC) based parallel computing is a very promising technology to speed up the computation and facilitate the simulation process. This paper presents two different parallel implementations of power grid dynamic simulation using Open Multi-processing (OpenMP) on shared-memory platform, and Message Passing Interface (MPI) on distributed-memory clusters, respectively. The difference of the parallel simulation algorithms and architectures of the two HPC technologies are illustrated, and their performances for running parallel dynamic simulation are compared and demonstrated.

dynamic simulation↗

Latent Twins

Over the past decade, scientific machine learning has transformed the development of mathematical and computational frameworks for analyzing, modeling, and predicting complex systems. From inverse problems to numerical partial differential equations (PDEs), dynamical systems, and model reduction, these advances have pushed the boundaries of what can be simulated. Yet they have often progressed in parallel, with representation learning and algorithmic solution methods evolving largely as separate pipelines. With Latent Twins, we propose a unifying mathematical framework that creates a hidden surrogate in latent space for the underlying equations. Whereas digital twins mirror physical systems in the digital world, Latent Twins mirror mathematical systems in a learned latent space governed by operators. Through this lens, classical modeling, inversion, model reduction, and operator approximation all emerge as special cases of a single principle. We establish the fundamental approximation properties of Latent Twins for both ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and PDEs and demonstrate the framework across three representative settings: (i) canonical ODEs, capturing diverse dynamical regimes; (ii) a PDE benchmark using the shallow-water equations, contrasting Latent Twin simulations with deep operator network and forecasts with a four-dimensional variational method baseline; and (iii) a challenging real-data geopotential reanalysis dataset, reconstructing and forecasting from sparse, noisy observations. Latent Twins provide a compact, interpretable surrogate for solution operators that evaluate across arbitrary time gaps in a single-shot, while remaining compatible with scientific pipelines such as assimilation, control, and uncertainty quantification. Looking forward, this framework offers scalable, theory-grounded surrogates that bridge data-driven representation learning and classical scientific modeling across disciplines.

Latent Twins↗

Concurrent processing in nonlinear structural stability

A concurrent processing algorithm is developed for materially nonlinear stability analysis of imperfect columns with biaxial partial rotational end restraints. The algorithm for solving the governing nonlinear ordinary differential equations is implemented on a multiprocessor computer called the 'Finite Element Machine', developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Numerical results are obtained on up to nine concurrent processors. A substantial computational gain is achieved in using the parallel processing approach.

Darbhamulla, S. P.↗

Structural synthesis: Precursor and catalyst

More than twenty five years have elapsed since it was recognized that a rather general class of structural design optimization tasks could be properly posed as an inequality constrained minimization problem. It is suggested that, independent of primary discipline area, it will be useful to think about: (1) posing design problems in terms of an objective function and inequality constraints; (2) generating design oriented approximate analysis methods (giving special attention to behavior sensitivity analysis); (3) distinguishing between decisions that lead to an analysis model and those that lead to a design model; (4) finding ways to generate a sequence of approximate design optimization problems that capture the essential characteristics of the primary problem, while still having an explicit algebraic form that is matched to one or more of the established optimization algorithms; (5) examining the potential of optimum design sensitivity analysis to facilitate quantitative trade-off studies as well as participation in multilevel design activities. It should be kept in mind that multilevel methods are inherently well suited to a parallel mode of operation in computer terms or to a division of labor between task groups in organizational terms. Based on structural experience with multilevel methods general guidelines are suggested.

Schmit, L. A.↗

Parallel processing for digital picture comparison

In picture processing an important problem is to identify two digital pictures of the same scene taken under different lighting conditions. This kind of problem can be found in remote sensing, satellite signal processing and the related areas. The identification can be done by transforming the gray levels so that the gray level histograms of the two pictures are closely matched. The transformation problem can be solved by using the packing method. Researchers propose a VLSI architecture consisting of m x n processing elements with extensive parallel and pipelining computation capabilities to speed up the transformation with the time complexity 0(max(m,n)), where m and n are the numbers of the gray levels of the input picture and the reference picture respectively. If using uniprocessor and a dynamic programming algorithm, the time complexity will be 0(m(3)xn). The algorithm partition problem, as an important issue in VLSI design, is discussed. Verification of the proposed architecture is also given.

Cheng, H. D.↗

An evidential reasoning extension to quantitative model-based failure diagnosis

The detection and diagnosis of failures in physical systems characterized by continuous-time operation are studied. A quantitative diagnostic methodology has been developed that utilizes the mathematical model of the physical system. On the basis of the latter, diagnostic models are derived each of which comprises a set of orthogonal parity equations. To improve the robustness of the algorithm, several models may be used in parallel, providing potentially incomplete and/or conflicting inferences. Dempster's rule of combination is used to integrate evidence from the different models. The basic probability measures are assigned utilizing quantitative information extracted from the mathematical model and from online computation performed therewith.

Gertler, Janos J.↗

A novel VLSI processor architecture for supercomputing arrays

Design of the processor element for general purpose massively parallel supercomputing arrays is highly complex and cost ineffective. To overcome this, the architecture and organization of the functional units of the processor element should be such as to suit the diverse computational structures and simplify mapping of complex communication structures of different classes of algorithms. This demands that the computation and communication structures of different class of algorithms be unified. While unifying the different communication structures is a difficult process, analysis of a wide class of algorithms reveals that their computation structures can be expressed in terms of basic IP,IP,OP,CM,R,SM, and MAA operations. The execution of these operations is unified on the PAcube macro-cell array. Based on this PAcube macro-cell array, we present a novel processor element called the GIPOP processor, which has dedicated functional units to perform the above operations. The architecture and organization of these functional units are such to satisfy the two important criteria mentioned above. The structure of the macro-cell and the unification process has led to a very regular and simpler design of the GIPOP processor. The production cost of the GIPOP processor is drastically reduced as it is designed on high performance mask programmable PAcube arrays.

Venkateswaran, N.↗

A finite element solver for 3-D compressible viscous flows

Computation of the flow field inside a space shuttle main engine (SSME) requires the application of state of the art computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technology. Several computer codes are under development to solve 3-D flow through the hot gas manifold. Some algorithms were designed to solve the unsteady compressible Navier-Stokes equations, either by implicit or explicit factorization methods, using several hundred or thousands of time steps to reach a steady state solution. A new iterative algorithm is being developed for the solution of the implicit finite element equations without assembling global matrices. It is an efficient iteration scheme based on a modified nonlinear Gauss-Seidel iteration with symmetric sweeps. The algorithm is analyzed for a model equation and is shown to be unconditionally stable. Results from a series of test problems are presented. The finite element code was tested for couette flow, which is flow under a pressure gradient between two parallel plates in relative motion. Another problem that was solved is viscous laminar flow over a flat plate. The general 3-D finite element code was used to compute the flow in an axisymmetric turnaround duct at low Mach numbers.

Reddy, K. C.↗

A Parallel Non-Overlapping Domain-Decomposition Algorithm for Compressible Fluid Flow Problems on Triangulated Domains

This paper considers an algebraic preconditioning algorithm for hyperbolic-elliptic fluid flow problems. The algorithm is based on a parallel non-overlapping Schur complement domain-decomposition technique for triangulated domains. In the Schur complement technique, the triangulation is first partitioned into a number of non-overlapping subdomains and interfaces. This suggests a reordering of triangulation vertices which separates subdomain and interface solution unknowns. The reordering induces a natural 2 x 2 block partitioning of the discretization matrix. Exact LU factorization of this block system yields a Schur complement matrix which couples subdomains and the interface together. The remaining sections of this paper present a family of approximate techniques for both constructing and applying the Schur complement as a domain-decomposition preconditioner. The approximate Schur complement serves as an algebraic coarse space operator, thus avoiding the known difficulties associated with the direct formation of a coarse space discretization. In developing Schur complement approximations, particular attention has been given to improving sequential and parallel efficiency of implementations without significantly degrading the quality of the preconditioner. A computer code based on these developments has been tested on the IBM SP2 using MPI message passing protocol. A number of 2-D calculations are presented for both scalar advection-diffusion equations as well as the Euler equations governing compressible fluid flow to demonstrate performance of the preconditioning algorithm.

Barth, Timothy J.↗

Implementation of an ADI method on parallel computers

The implementation of an ADI method for solving the diffusion equation on three parallel/vector computers is discussed. The computers were chosen so as to encompass a variety of architectures. They are: the MPP, an SIMD machine with 16K bit serial processors; FLEX/32, an MIMD machine with 20 processors; and CRAY/2, an MIMD machine with four vector processors. The Gaussian elimination algorithm is used to solve a set of tridiagonal systems on the FLEX/32 and CRAY/2 while the cyclic elimination algorithm is used to solve these systems on the MPP. The implementation of the method is discussed in relation to these architectures and measures of the performance on each machine are given. Simple performance models are used to describe the performance. These models highlight the bottlenecks and limiting factors for this algorithm on these architectures. Finally, conclusions are presented.

Fatoohi, Raad A.↗

PySpawn: Software for Nonadiabatic Quantum Molecular Dynamics

The ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) method enables nonadiabatic quantum molecular dynamics simulations in an arbitrary number of dimensions, with potential energy surfaces provided by electronic structure calculations performed on-the-fly. However, the intricacy of the AIMS algorithm complicates software development, deployment on modern shared computer resources, and post-simulation data analysis. PySpawn is a nonadiabatic molecular dynamics software package that addresses these issues. Here, the program is designed to be easily interfaced with electronic structure software, and an interface to the TeraChem software package is described here. PySpawn introduces a task-based reorganization of the AIMS algorithm, allowing fine-grained restart capability and setting the stage for efficient parallelization in a future release. PySpawn includes a user-friendly and interactive Python analysis module that will enable novice users to painlessly adopt AIMS. As a demonstration of PySpawn’s simulation capability and analysis module, we report complete active space self-consistent field–based AIMS simulations of the 1,2- dithienyl-1,2-dicyanoethene molecule, a promising molecular photoswitch.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Development of an Unstructured Mesh Code for Flows About Complete Vehicles

This report describes the research work undertaken at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under NASA Research Grant NAG4-157. The aim of this research is to identify effective algorithms and methodologies for the efficient and routine solution of flow simulations about complete vehicle configurations. For over ten years we have received support from NASA to develop unstructured mesh methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics. As a result of this effort a methodology based on the use of unstructured adapted meshes of tetrahedra and finite volume flow solvers has been developed. A number of gridding algorithms, flow solvers, and adaptive strategies have been proposed. The most successful algorithms developed from the basis of the unstructured mesh system FELISA. The FELISA system has been extensively for the analysis of transonic and hypersonic flows about complete vehicle configurations. The system is highly automatic and allows for the routine aerodynamic analysis of complex configurations starting from CAD data. The code has been parallelized and utilizes efficient solution algorithms. For hypersonic flows, a version of the code which incorporates real gas effects, has been produced. The FELISA system is also a component of the STARS aeroservoelastic system developed at NASA Dryden. One of the latest developments before the start of this grant was to extend the system to include viscous effects. This required the development of viscous generators, capable of generating the anisotropic grids required to represent boundary layers, and viscous flow solvers. We show some sample hypersonic viscous computations using the developed viscous generators and solvers. Although this initial results were encouraging it became apparent that in order to develop a fully functional capability for viscous flows, several advances in solution accuracy, robustness and efficiency were required. In this grant we set out to investigate some novel methodologies that could lead to the required improvements. In particular we focused on two fronts: (1) finite element methods and (2) iterative algebraic multigrid solution techniques.

Peraire, Jaime↗

Multilevel summation with B-spline interpolation for pairwise interactions in molecular dynamics simulations

The multilevel summation method for calculating electrostatic interactions in molecular dynamics simulations constructs an approximation to a pairwise interaction kernel and its gradient, which can be evaluated at a cost that scales linearly with the number of atoms. The method smoothly splits the kernel into a sum of partial kernels of increasing range and decreasing variability with the longer-range parts interpolated from grids of increasing coarseness. Multilevel summation is especially appropriate in the context of dynamics and minimization, because it can produce continuous gradients. This article explores the use of B-splines to increase the accuracy of the multilevel summation method (for nonperiodic boundaries) without incurring additional computation other than a preprocessing step (whose cost also scales linearly). To obtain accurate results efficiently involves technical difficulties, which are overcome by a novel preprocessing algorithm. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the resulting method offers substantial improvements in accuracy and that its performance is competitive with an implementation of the fast multipole method in general and markedly better for Hamiltonian formulations of molecular dynamics. The improvement is great enough to establish multilevel summation as a serious contender for calculating pairwise interactions in molecular dynamics simulations. In particular, the method appears to be uniquely capable for molecular dynamics in two situations, nonperiodic boundary conditions and massively parallel computation, where the fast Fourier transform employed in the particle–mesh Ewald method falls short.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A scalable nonlinear fluid–structure interaction solver based on a Schwarz preconditioner with isogeometric unstructured coarse spaces in 3D

Nonlinear fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems on unstructured meshes in 3D appear many applications in science and engineering, such as vibration analysis of aircrafts and patient-specific diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. In this work, we develop a highly scalable, parallel algorithmic and software framework for FSI problems consisting of a nonlinear fluid system and a nonlinear solid system, that are coupled monolithically. The FSI system is discretized by a stabilized finite element method in space and a fully implicit backward difference scheme in time. To solve the large, sparse system of nonlinear algebraic equations at each time step, we propose an inexact Newton-Krylov method together with a multilevel, smoothed Schwarz preconditioner with isogeometric coarse meshes generated by a geometry preserving coarsening algorithm. Here ''geometry'' includes the boundary of the computational domain and the wet interface between the fluid and the solid. We show numerically that the proposed algorithm and implementation are highly scalable in terms of the number of linear and nonlinear iterations and the total compute time on a supercomputer with more than 10,000 processor cores for several problems with hundreds of millions of unknowns.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Petascale Orbital-Free Density Functional Theory Enabled by Small-Box Algorithms

Orbital-free density functional theory (OFDFT) is a quantum-mechanics-based method that utilizes electron density as its sole variable. The main computational cost in OFDFT is the ubiquitous use of the fast Fourier transform (FFT), which is mainly adopted to evaluate the kinetic energy density functional (KEDF) and electron–electron Coulomb interaction terms. We design and implement a small-box FFT (SBFFT) algorithm to overcome the parallelization limitations of conventional FFT algorithms. We also propose real-space truncation of the nonlocal Wang–Teter KEDF kernel. The scalability of the SBFFT is demonstrated by efficiently simulating one full optimization step (electron density, energies, forces, and stresses) of 1,024,000 lithium (Li) atoms on up to 65,536 cores. We perform other tests using Li as a test material, including calculations of physical properties of different phases of bulk Li, geometry optimizations of nanocrystalline Li, and molecular dynamics simulations of liquid Li. All of the tests yield excellent agreement with the original OFDFT results, suggesting that the OFDFT-SBFFT algorithm opens the door to efficient first-principles simulations of materials containing millions of atoms.

Chemistry↗

Low energy muon neutrino reconstruction in MicroBooNE

MicroBooNE is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) neutrino experiment on the Booster Neutrino Beamline at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, with an 85-tonne active mass. One of MicroBooNE’s primary physics goals is to investigate the excess of electron neutrino events seen by MiniBooNE in the [200-600] MeV range. MicroBooNE will constrain the intrinsic electron neutrino component of the beam by measuring the muon neutrino spectrum. Several low-energy excess analyses are taking place in parallel, using independent reconstructions and selection schemes. This paper will focus on a low-energy excess analysis that makes use of deep learning algorithms applied to the high-resolution images provided by the MicroBooNE LArTPC. We present a novel 3D event reconstruction based on computer vision tools and a stochastic search algorithm, yielding a 2.2% energy resolution for 1μ1p muon neutrino interactions in the [200-1500] MeV range.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

AGS-GNN: Attribute-guided Sampling for Graph Neural Networks

We propose AGS-GNN, a novel attribute-guided sampling algorithm for Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) that exploits node features and connectivity structure of a graph while simultaneously adapting for both homophily and heterophily in graphs. (In homophilic graphs vertices of the same class are more likely to be connected, and vertices of different classes tend to be linked in heterophilic graphs.) While GNNs have been successfully applied to homophilic graphs, their application to heterophilic graphs remains challenging. The best-performing GNNs for heterophilic graphs do not fit the sampling paradigm, suffer high computational costs, and are not inductive. We employ samplers based on feature-similarity and feature-diversity to select subsets of neighbors for a node, and adaptively capture information from homophilic and heterophilic neighborhoods using dual channels. Currently, AGS-GNN is the only algorithm that we know of that explicitly controls homophily in the sampled subgraph through similar and diverse neighborhood samples. For diverse neighborhood sampling, we employ submodularity, which was not used in this context prior to our work. The sampling distribution is pre-computed and highly parallel, achieving the desired scalability. Using an extensive dataset consisting of 35 small (<=100K nodes) and large (>100K nodes) homophilic and heterophilic graphs, we demonstrate the superiority of AGS-GNN compare to the current approaches in the literature. AGS-GNN achieves comparable test accuracy to the best-performing heterophilic GNNs, even outperforming methods using the entire graph for node classification. AGS-GNN also converges faster compared to methods that sample neighborhoods randomly, and can be incorporated into existing GNN models that employ node or graph sampling.

artificial intelligence↗

Maximum likelihood estimation for distributed parameter models of flexible spacecraft

A distributed-parameter model of the NASA Solar Array Flight Experiment spacecraft structure is constructed on the basis of measurement data and analyzed to generate a priori estimates of modal frequencies and mode shapes. A Newton-Raphson maximum-likelihood algorithm is applied to determine the unknown parameters, using a truncated model for the estimation and the full model for the computation of the higher modes. Numerical results are presented in a series of graphs and briefly discussed, and the significant improvement in computation speed obtained by parallel implementation of the method on a supercomputer is noted.

Taylor, L. W., Jr.↗