Scalable Multi-cloud Platform to Support Industry and Scientific Applications

Cloud computing offers resources on-demand and without large capital investments. As such, it is attractive to many industry and scientific application areas that require large computation and storage facilities. Although Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds provide elasticity and on demand resource access, the challenges represented by multi-cloud capabilities and application level scalability are still largely unsolved. The CloudSME Simulation Platform (CSSP) extended with the Microservices-based Cloud Application-level Dynamic Orchestrator (MiCADO) addresses such issues. CSSP is a generic multi-cloud access platform for the development and execution of large scale industry and scientific simulations on heterogeneous cloud resources. MiCADO provides application level scalability to optimise execution time and costs. This paper outlines how these technologies have been developed in various European research projects, and showcases several application case-studies from manufacturing, engineering and life-sciences where these tools have been successfully utilised to execute large-scale simulations in an optimised way on heterogeneous cloud infrastructures

Red variables in the OGLE-II database. I. Pulsations and period-luminosity relations below the tip of the Red Giant Branch of the LMC

We present period-luminosity relations for more than 23,000 red giants in the Large Magellanic Cloud observed by the OGLE-II microlensing project. The OGLE period values were combined with the 2MASS single-epoch JHK photometric data. For the brighter stars we find agreement with previous results (four different sequences corresponding to different modes of pulsation in AGB stars). We also discovered two distinct and well-separated sequences below the tip of the Red Giant Branch. They consist of almost 10,000 short-period (15 d <P< 50 d), low-amplitude (A_I<0.04 mag) red variable stars, for which we propose that a significant fraction is likely to be on the Red Giant Branch, showing radial pulsations in the second and third overtone modes. The excitation mechanism could be either Mira-like pulsation or solar-like oscillations driven by convection.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS (Pink Pages); proof corrections adde

A Cloud/HPC Platform and Marketplace for Manufacturing SMEs

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is essential for the digitalization of the manufacturing sector. However, less than 25% of manufacturing companies in Europe profit from ICT-enabled solutions. In order to boost the competitiveness of European manufacturers (especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises – (SMEs), innovative solutions need to consider both technological and commercial scalability from the very early stages of the design process throughout the full implementation and utilisation of the solution. From this perspective, cloudification of services has become the ideal enabler in manufacturing digitalization. Successful previous European initiatives have already demonstrated the benefits of cloudifying engineering services, by combining High Performance Computing (HPC) resources, computational tools, and cloud computing platforms. CloudiFacturing is an EU funded Innovation Action project that brings and progresses advanced ICT in the field of Cloud/HPC-based modelling and simulation, data analytics for online factory data, and real-time support to European manufacturing SMEs, contributing to their competitiveness and resource efficiency via optimizing production processes and producibility. CloudiFacturing is developing a generic, workflow oriented platform (Figure 1) that enables secure deployment and execution of workflow-based Cloud/HPC applications. These applications are deployed in a central workflow repository (EMGREPO) that accommodates for various heterogeneous workflow/application types (e.g. Flowbster, SemWES, CloudBroker). Additionally, a central data transfer and browsing component (EMGDATA) facilitates data sharing between the various workflow engines at execution time. Workflows and applications are executed via the Workflow and Applications Mediator (EMGWAM) component that enables the execution of pre-prepared workflows as black boxes and also facilitates their combination into higher level meta-workflow pipelines. In order to facilitate commercial utilization, the CloudiFacturing Platform comes with a central billing systems (EMGBC) and advanced security solutions for single sign-on and user authentication/authorization (EMGUM). On top of the platform, the project also develops a Digital Marketplace (the EMGORA – Engineering and Manufacturing Agora) for manufacturing companies, independent software vendors, and consultancy and training providers. The marketplace provides seamless access to the underlying services of the platform, enabling the publication, execution, billing and management of workflow-based applications for the manufacturing sector. Additionally, the marketplace also serves as a generic community hub where a wide range of activities, for example domain specific information exchange, value added services or training courses and material can be found. CloudiFacturing demonstrates the technical and economic feasibility of its platform and marketplace on the basis of more than twenty cross-national application experiments involving manufacturing companies, independent software vendors, technology consultants, digital innovation hubs and resource providers, in three consecutive waves. The first wave of these experiments has just finished and the second wave kicked-off in February 2019 with seven new experiments. During the first wave, the 15 involved companies reported significant expected impact figures as a result of the implemented technological solution. Such impact measures included, for example, the creation of 18 new products or services within one year and 80 within five years, 1.9 million Euro turnover increase within one year and 8.5 million within five years, and the creation of 13 new jobs within one year and 60 within five years. Typical application areas include improving quality control and maintenance at manufacturing SMEs using big data analytics and digital twins, optimizing efficiency of truck components manufacturing processes via discrete event simulation, numerical modelling and simulation of heat treating processes in the aluminium industry, or optimizing design and production of electric drives. The development of the CloudiFacturing Platform and Marketplace is currently ongoing. This presentation will provide a short overview of these components and it will also summarise the results of the first wave of application experiments

Design and development of a flexible business simulation game.

Availability of managers competent in managing organisations operating in a competitive and global market is among the key factors affecting the likelihood of the success of the transition economies. This in turn will depend on the ability of the higher education institutions to align their curriculum with the needs of industry and commerce. Changes in the curriculum need to be underpinned with the appropriate learning material. This research project, in a small way, fulfils this important need. The primary aim of the work presented in this dissertation is to develop an interactive learning tool that enables the management student to acquire relevant managerial competencies, and knowledge regarding functions and processes of a firm operating in a competitive economy. Development of a business game demands a framework that specifies its requirements. This framework was established by examining the relevant literature, existing business games, and the specific needs of the transition economies. These requirements were used to identify the detailed objectives of the research. The research methodology consisted of: (a) analysis of relevant published papers and existing business games; (b) modelling of business processes; (c) testing the internal validity of the business game using multivariate statistical tools; and (d) testing the external validity of the business game using structured observations, report feedback, and survey of participants. In line with the objectives of this research, a multifunctional Business Simulation Game (BSG) was developed. The game enables the student to acquire skills and knowledge of functional areas, as well as, to develop an understanding of the relationship of those functional areas in the organisation. The resultant BSG has a number of unique features. First, it can operate in two languages, English and Hungarian. Moreover, the program can be easily modified to accommodate other languages. This is important because a majority of students in transition countries can not speak English. Second, based 'on the "white box theory", the students have access to detailed analysis of each functional area. Third, BSG allows the students to choose between practice (playing against the computer) and competitive (playing against other students) mode. Fourth, the development of the functional areas used in the BSG contains new concepts and methods. A new dynamic aggregate market model was developed and validated by using real life data. A new approach for modelling short run production and cost function allows for a deeper understanding of economic theory. The accounting function of BSG includes a completely new methodology for the harmonisation of different accounting systems, and a new approach to computerised accounting. BSG was validated internally and externally. The internal validation included face validation; sensitivity tests; consideration of the existence of dominant factors; and examination of the stability of decision variable – performance criterion relationships. These were accomplished using the response surface methodology and multivariate regression analysis. The external validation was concerned with the effectiveness of BSG as a learning tool. The data was collected by structured observation, report feedback, and survey data from three different cohorts of graduate and postgraduate students. This data was analysed using factor analysis; discriminant analysis; cross tabulation; and independent sample t-test. The analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data suggests that students found BSG to be an effective learning tool. The conduct of this study has found room for further research and improvement to BSG. These include methodological design; content; and the platform of the program. Methodologically, incorporating a linear programming method can improve the final evaluation of the market influential factors of companies, and help to optimise the product distribution. A comprehensive model with short-run revenue and profit functions allows for building up a more comprehensive model. Sustainable development will be included in the future that will be developed on Windows platform. The output of this research project is an interactive learning vehicle that can help the Hungarian business students at all levels to acquire the managerial competencies required to manage in a competitive economy. BSG can also be used by students in other transition economies, as well as students in first and third world countries

Theory of elementary excitations in unstable Bose-Einstein condensates

Like classical fluids, quantum gases may suffer from hydrodynamic instabilities. Our paper develops a quantum version of the classical stability analysis in fluids, the Bogoliubov theory of elementary excitations in unstable Bose-Einstein condensates. In unstable condensates the excitation modes have complex frequencies. We derive the normalization conditions for unstable modes such that they can serve in a mode decomposition of the noncondensed component. Furthermore, we develop approximative techniques to determine the spectrum and the mode functions. Finally, we apply our theory to sonic horizons - sonic black and white holes. For sonic white holes the spectrum of unstable modes turns out to be intrinsically discrete, whereas black holes may be stable

Quantum back-action of optical observations on Bose condensates

Impressive pictures of moving Bose-Einstein condensates have been taken using phase-contrast imaging M. R. Andrews et al., Science 273, 84 (1996). We calculate the quantum backaction of this measurement technique. We find that phase-contrast imaging is not a quantum nondemolition measurement of the atomic density. Instead, the condensate gets gradually depleted at a rate that is proportional to the light intensity and to the inverse cube of the optical wave length. The fewer atoms are condensed the higher is the required intensity to see a picture, and, consequently, the higher is the induced backaction. To describe the quantum physics of phase-contrast imaging we put forward a new approach to quantum-optical propagation. We develop an effective field theory of paraxial optics in a fully quantized atomic medium.Comment: 11 pages RevTex, 2 ps figures, revised. European Physical Journal D (in press

Reply to the ``Comment on `quantum backaction of optical observations on Bose-Einstein condensates' ''

In our paper we estimated the quantum backaction of dispersive imaging with off-resonant light on Bose-Einstein condensates. We have calculated the rates of the two processes involved, phase diffusion and depletion of the condensate. We compare here the depletion rate obtained within our model limitations to the Rayleigh scattering rate, both having the same physical origin: dispersive interaction of light with matter. We show that residual absorption sets indeed the limit of dispersive imaging.Comment: 1 page (Reply to comment