A supercomputer powered by more than 6,000 Nvidia A100 Tensor Core processors will help assemble a complex 3D map of the visible Universe to date. The map will help scientists discover more about the expansion of the universe.
As stated by Nvidia on its blog, the Perlmutter computer will be the fastest system on the planet. The machine’s name is in honor of Berkley astrophysicist Saul Perlmutter, a Nobel Prize winner. He won the Nobel Prize in 2011 for the discovery that the rate at which the universe expands is accelerating.
The Perlmutter will be put to work at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) to help in studies related to climate change, astrophysics, quantum physics, biological research, and more. Over 7,000 researchers will use the computer and the universe map will help them learn more about dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the universe. In his work, Saul Perlmutter has often used the NERSC machines to carry his research, including the one that won him the Nobel. Scientists have to submit a request to be able to access the Perlmutter.
The powerful system will be able to process a year’s worth of data in only a few days as supposed to weeks or months, as would be the case with other computers.
The Perlmutter will analyze data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) which is a cosmic camera that can capture up to 5,000 galaxies in a single exposure.
According to Nvidia, the supercomputer can deliver almost four exaflops of AI performance and is the fastest system on the planet on the 16 and 32-bit mixed-precision math AI uses. Moreover, Perlmutter’s performance will be enhanced even more later this year, in the second phase of the project.
Phase one of the Perlmutter assembly was undertaken by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HP) engineers in collaboration with the NERSC staff.
The Perlmutter will be put to work at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) to help in studies related to climate change, astrophysics, quantum physics, biological research, and more. Over 7,000 researchers will use the computer and the universe map will help them learn more about dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the universe. In his work, Saul Perlmutter has often used the NERSC machines to carry his research, including the one that won him the Nobel. Scientists have to submit a request to be able to access the Perlmutter.
The powerful system will be able to process a year’s worth of data in only a few days as supposed to weeks or months, as would be the case with other computers.
The Perlmutter will analyze data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) which is a cosmic camera that can capture up to 5,000 galaxies in a single exposure.
According to Nvidia, the supercomputer can deliver almost four exaflops of AI performance and is the fastest system on the planet on the 16 and 32-bit mixed-precision math AI uses. Moreover, Perlmutter’s performance will be enhanced even more later this year, in the second phase of the project.
Phase one of the Perlmutter assembly was undertaken by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HP) engineers in collaboration with the NERSC staff.