190 research outputs found
Performance analysis and optimization of the JOREK code for many-core CPUs
This report investigates the performance of the JOREK code on the Intel
Knights Landing and Skylake processor architectures. The OpenMP scaling of the
matrix construction part of the code was analyzed and improved synchronization
methods were implemented. A new switch was implemented to control the number of
threads used for the linear equation solver independently from other parts of
the code. The matrix construction subroutine was vectorized, and the data
locality was also improved. These steps led to a factor of two speedup for the
matrix construction
Evaluating kernels on Xeon Phi to accelerate Gysela application
This work describes the challenges presented by porting parts ofthe Gysela
code to the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor, as well as techniques used for
optimization, vectorization and tuning that can be applied to other
applications. We evaluate the performance of somegeneric micro-benchmark on Phi
versus Intel Sandy Bridge. Several interpolation kernels useful for the Gysela
application are analyzed and the performance are shown. Some memory-bound and
compute-bound kernels are accelerated by a factor 2 on the Phi device compared
to Sandy architecture. Nevertheless, it is hard, if not impossible, to reach a
large fraction of the peek performance on the Phi device,especially for
real-life applications as Gysela. A collateral benefit of this optimization and
tuning work is that the execution time of Gysela (using 4D advections) has
decreased on a standard architecture such as Intel Sandy Bridge.Comment: submitted to ESAIM proceedings for CEMRACS 2014 summer school version
reviewe
Best practices and QA protocols for code development
The OperaHPC project aims to improve the numerical capabilities of 3D fuel performance modelling as part of its strategic objectives. To achieve this goal, an open-source approach has been chosen for the tools developed in the framework of the project, namely MMM and OFFBEAT, the latter coupled to the SCIANTIX code. As the open-source approach is relatively new in the domain of nuclear safety studies, this document presents a framework for achieving quality assurance targets for the open-source scientific computing tools within the OperaHPC project. First, the document provides a brief review of the most common QA programs and standards employed in the field, with a particular focus to the aspects that are more relevant to OperaHPC. Then, it discusses modern software development practices to improve code quality, highlighting the importance of revision control systems, testing methodologies, and documentation. Finally, it describes the concept of governance model for regulating interactions between contributors, users, and decision-makers. The framework presented in this document provides a backbone for the verification and validation actions that will be carried out within the project and contributes to the qualification of the MMM, OFFBEAT and SCIANTIX tools for nuclear safety studies
Non regression testing for the JOREK code
Non Regression Testing (NRT) aims to check if software modifications result
in undesired behaviour. Suppose the behaviour of the application previously
known, this kind of test makes it possible to identify an eventual regression,
a bug. Improving and tuning a parallel code can be a time-consuming and
difficult task, especially whenever people from different scientific fields
interact closely. The JOREK code aims at investing Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
instabilities in a Tokamak plasma. This paper describes the NRT procedure that
has been tuned for this simulation code. Automation of the NRT is one keypoint
to keeping the code healthy in a source code repository.Comment: No. RR-8134 (2012
Non-linear magnetohydrodynamic modeling of plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbations
The interaction of static Resonant Magnetic Perturbations (RMPs) with
the plasma flows is modeled in toroidal geometry, using the non-linear
resistive MHD code JOREK, which includes the X-point and the
scrape-off-layer. Two-fluid diamagnetic effects, the neoclassical
poloidal friction and a source of toroidal rotation are introduced in
the model to describe realistic plasma flows. RMP penetration is studied
taking self-consistently into account the effects of these flows and the
radial electric field evolution. JET-like, MAST, and ITER parameters are
used in modeling. For JET-like parameters, three regimes of plasma
response are found depending on the plasma resistivity and the
diamagnetic rotation: at high resistivity and slow rotation, the islands
generated by the RMPs at the edge resonant surfaces rotate in the ion
diamagnetic direction and their size oscillates. At faster rotation, the
generated islands are static and are more screened by the plasma. An
intermediate regime with static islands which slightly oscillate is
found at lower resistivity. In ITER simulations, the RMPs generate
static islands, which forms an ergodic layer at the very edge (Ï
â„0.96) characterized by lobe structures near the X-point and results
in a small strike point splitting on the divertor targets. In MAST
Double Null Divertor geometry, lobes are also found near the X-point and
the 3D-deformation of the density and temperature profiles is observed
The politics of heroes through the prism of popular heroism
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Palgrave Macmillan via the DOI in this record.In modern day Britain, the discourse of national heroification is routinely utilised by politicians, educationalists and cultural industry professionals, whilst also being a popular concept to describe deserving âdo-goodersâ who contribute to British society in a myriad of ways. We argue that although this heroification discourse is enacted as a discursive device of encouraging politically and morally desirable behaviour, it is dissociated from the largely under-explored facets of contemporary popular heroism. To compensate for this gap, this paper explores public preferences for heroes using survey data representative of British adults. This analysis demonstrates a conceptual stretching in the understanding of heroism, and allows identifying age- and gender-linked dynamics which effect public choices of heroes. In particular, we demonstrate that age above all determines the preference for having a hero, but does not explain preferences for specific hero-types. The focus on gender illustrates that the landscape of popular heroism reproduces a male-dominated bias which exists in the wider political and cultural heroification discourse. Simultaneously, our study shows that if national heroification discourse in Britain remains male-centric, the landscape of popular heroism is characterised by a gendered trend towards privatisation of heroes being particularly prominent amongst women. In the conclusion, this paper argues for a conceptual revision and re-gendering of the national heroification discourse as a step towards both empirically grounded, and age- and gender-sensitive politics of heroes and heroines.AHR
Conductive-probe atomic force microscopy characterization of silicon nanowire
The electrical conduction properties of lateral and vertical silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were investigated using a conductive-probe atomic force microscopy (AFM). Horizontal SiNWs, which were synthesized by the in-plane solid-liquid-solid technique, are randomly deployed into an undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Local current mapping shows that the wires have internal microstructures. The local current-voltage measurements on these horizontal wires reveal a power law behavior indicating several transport regimes based on space-charge limited conduction which can be assisted by traps in the high-bias regime (> 1 V). Vertical phosphorus-doped SiNWs were grown by chemical vapor deposition using a gold catalyst-driving vapor-liquid-solid process on higly n-type silicon substrates. The effect of phosphorus doping on the local contact resistance between the AFM tip and the SiNW was put in evidence, and the SiNWs resistivity was estimated
- âŠ