Tait Symposium II report
The principal goal of the event was to draw together as many of the UK based
researchers in lattice QCD as possible to discuss the physics programme and
associated technical requirements for the QCDOC supercomputer to be installed
at the University of Edinburgh later this year.
The importance and timeliness of the meeting was clear from the extremely high
participation rate, with the large number of physical attendees boosted by Access
Grid connections to Swansea and Daresbury (for the University of Liverpool).
The JIF-funded QCDOC machine will be the largest computer dedicated to
lattice field theory in the world. Maximising the scientific
benefits from this resource requires not only a set of clear physics
goals, but also a commensurate investment in the technical side.
Participants at the meeting reported on developments in hardware and
simulation software, in addition to considerable (and pioneering) work
on GRID technology. This was felt to be extremely useful, as it
focussed the scientific discussion onto what would be technically
achievable from an e-science perspective over the short to medium
term.
The outcome of the meeting was a set of specific plans from each research
group for QCD simulations using the QCDOC supercomputer, and an associated
timetable for necessary and feasible software and GRID technology development
over the same short to medium timescale to support it.
It was agreed that regular follow-up meetings should be held to
continue to steer the project. These would be of a slightly smaller
scale, and to be held at different locations across the UK.