High Performance Computing
and
Advanced Visualization
in Plasma Physics Research

Thursday July 1 - Sunday July 4, 1999

Organized by
Department of Theoretical Physics
&
Plasma Research Laboratory
The Australian National University

Venue: Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia
This island, in Australia's tropical north, is a suburb of Townsville (latitude, 19 degrees), which is about 350 km south of the international airport at Cairns by road, rail or air and is a major town in the region (e.g. it is the site of the main campus of James Cook University and hosts the Australian Festival of Chamber Music June 30 - July 11.) The island is reached by ferry or car ferry from Townsville and lies within the Great Barrier Reef. The outer reef is some distance off shore and is reached by fast boat in a couple of hours. Being in the southern winter, July is one of the best months of the year to enjoy this area of Australia.

The workshop was held at the Arcadia Resort, 7 Marine Parade, Arcadia, Magnetic Island QLD 4819, Australia. Phone 07 4778 5177, Fax 07 4778 5939 (calling from overseas, prepend with country code 61 and delete the 0).

Current exchange rates (Rate on March 17, 1999: A$1.00 = US$0.625 = ¥74.3 )

Further contents of this page:

Coordinators
Contact details
Scientific goals
IRAP-funded participants
IRAP objectives
Related regional conferences

Coordinators:
Professor Robert L. Dewar Head, Department of Theoretical Physics Research School of Physical Sciences & Engineering Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA
Professor Takaya Hayashi Director, Theory & Computer Simulation Centre National Institute for Fusion Science 322-6 Oroshi-cho Toki, Gifu 509-5292 JAPAN

Contact details:

For more information, and/or expressions of interest in attending, contact Bob Dewar:
E-mail: robert.dewar@anu.edu.au
Phone: (02) 6249 2949
Fax: (02) 6249 4676
URL: http://rsphysse.anu.edu.au/~rld105

Workshop Details

Scientific goals:

The scientific/technical aims of the workshop are

To exchange information on new developments in computer simulation and visualization of complex phenomena in plasmas.
To exchange information and ideas about the new stellarator (helical plasma containment device) design projects under way in the US National Stellarator Program. Important scientific issues are how to avoid magnetic islands in the equilibrium plasma and how to design machines so they are stable to ballooning and other such modes.
To assess the suitability of current software for such design work and to develop a strategy for continued development of such software through collaborative efforts. (In particular, to assess the potential for the encapsulation property of object-oriented programming methods to allow multi-site development and improved reusability using modular code design.)
To exchange information on the status of new stellarator experiments in Australia (heliac H-1NF at the National Plasma Fusion Facility, Canberra), Japan (heliotron/torsatron LHD at Toki and the new helical-axis heliotron at Kyoto) and the US (HSX at Wisconsin).
To develop plans for remote participation by Australians in overseas experiments and by overseas collaborators, and Australians not at ANU, in experiments on H-1NF using the Internet or high-speed links for data transmission and video conferencing.
To discuss the potential of three-dimensional immersive visualisation systems, such as the ANU WEDGE or the CAVE system at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) at Toki for extraction of information from large scientific data sets, and to demonstrate this using a portable WEDGE.

Attendance by Australian participants and venue hire is sponsored by the
Australian Government Department of Industry Science and Resources (DISR)
Industrial Research Alliances Program (IRAP):

Australian academic participants:
Prof. R.L. Dewar, Dept. Theoretical Physics, RSPhysSE, ANU (DTP)
Dr H.J. Gardner, Dept. Computer Science, FEIT, ANU (DCS) & DTP & PRL
Dr R.W. Boswell, Plasma Research Laboratory, RSPhysSE, ANU (PRL)
Ms S.S. Lloyd, DCS & DTP & PRL
Dr B. Molinari, DCS & RSISE, ANU
Dr B.D. Blackwell, PRL
Prof R.J. Storer, Head, Physics Dept, Flinders University
Dr N.F. Cramer, Theoretical Physics Department, University of Sydney
Dr R. Robson, Physics Department, Cairns Campus, James Cook University
Australian Industry participants:
Mr Robert J. McHenry, Manager Federal Systems, Intergraph Corporation (Computer Hardware)
Mr Chris Poulton, All AV Pty Ltd (Audio Visual)

IRAP objectives of the Workshop:

a) Building Alliances:

A major aim of the workshop is to encourage the formation of cooperative links between

computational physicists working in the area of plasma simulation;
computer scientists working in the areas of modernisation of large codes through application of software engineering techniques and in visualisation issues;
experimental physicists interested in remote participation and advanced data analysis techniques;
local hardware and software companies looking for opportunities to develop products for these communities.

Plasma physicists have been at the forefront of innovation in advanced computation, but there are traditional barriers between computer scientists and physical scientists that the present proposal aims to break down using an intimate workshop atmosphere. It also aims to break down barriers between theory and experiment and between software and hardware engineering.

b) Australian Industry:

One of the most spectacular recent "spin-offs" from computational plasma physics research in Australia has been the development of affordable "virtual reality" visualisation environments for the display of simulation and experimental data. Drs Gardner and Boswell, with the help of the Millenium Audio Visual and Intergraph companies and using sotware developed by Drew Whitehouse of the ANU Supercomputer Facility VizLab, have developed Australia's first projection virtual reality theatre (the "WEDGE"). The Japanese and US delegates to this Workshop are experienced in programming visualisation applications for similar, but much more expensive, virtual reality theatres. It is expected that the synergies generated by this Workshop will speed the further development of visualisation technology and applications. In particular, the price point of the Wedge brings this technology into the reach of Australian Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for the first time.

Scientific computation in plasma physics has been one of the major drivers for the development of High Performance Computing (HPC) hardware over the past two decades. By contrast, there has been much less interaction between the software engineering community and computational scientists than might have been expected. This workshop will specifically address issues linking modern software engineering and computational plasma physics. This should help the orientation of leading computational scientists towards the wider needs of the software industry.

c) Commercialization:

Software engineering: by discussion of the problems of modernising major physics codes with international colleagues, it is hoped that the potential market for outsourcing contracts to Australian developers can be gauged, and local expertise showcased;

Three-dimensional visualisation: the low-cost WEDGE technology currently being developed by the Experimental Visualisation group at ANU is already attracting interest from local firms and has considerable potential for commercial development. The workshop will include demonstrations of this technology to overseas researchers having experience with more expensive CAVE products and discussion of the relative advantages, disadvantages, and common problems of each. Also, importantly, the workshop will explore the question of just what are the potential serious scientific uses of this technology.

Related regional conferences:

Second General Assembly of the Asia Pacific Plasma and Fusion Association (GA of APFA'99)
combined with the Fourth Asia Pacific Plasma Theory Conference (APPTC'99)
Seoul, Korea, 5-7 July 1999.

Opportunities and Directions in Fusion Energy Science for the Next Decade
A workshop to be held at Snowmass, Colorado, July 11-23, 1999.

This page has been accessed times since 10 June 1999.

Last modified November 22, 2001 , by Robert L. Dewar (Robert.Dewar@anu.edu.au ). Back to Plasma Theory home page.