computing

A new machine learning technology tested by Fermilab scientists and collaborators can spot specific particle signatures among an ocean of LHC data in the blink of an eye, much faster than standard methods. Sophisticated and swift, its performance gives a glimpse into the game-changing role machine learning will play in making future discoveries in particle physics as data sets get bigger and more complex.

A pioneer in particle physics and high-performance computing, Fermilab has launched HEPCloud, a cloud computing service that will enable the lab’s demanding experiments to make the best, most efficient use of computing resources. This flagship project lets experiments rent computing resources from external sources during peak demand, reducing the costs of providing for local resources while also providing failsafe redundancy.

From Inside HPC, July 3, 2019: Particle physics researchers are using custom integrated circuits called FPGAs in combination with other computing resources to process massive quantities of data at extremely fast rates to find clues to the origins of the universe. This requires filtering sensor data in real time to identify novel particle substructures that could contain evidence of the existence of dark matter and other physical phenomena. A growing team of physicists and engineers from Fermilab, CERN and other institutions, co-led by Fermilab scientist Nhan Tran, wanted to have a flexible way to optimize custom-event filters in the CMS detector they are working on at CERN.

From Exascale Computing Project, May 28, 2019: Fermilab scientist Andreas Kronfeld is featured in this piece on the Excascale Computing Project, quantum chromodynamics and lattice QCD. Kronfeld, the principal investigator of ECP’s LatticeQCD project, explains how exascale computing will be essential to extending the work of precision calculations in particle physics to nuclear physics. The calculations are central for interpreting all experiments in particle physics and nuclear physics.

From HPCWire, May 7, 2019: Fermilab scientist Andreas Kronfeld is quoted in this article that follows up on Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s announcement of plans to build the $600 million, 1.5 exaflops Frontier supercomputer.

From Quanta Magazine, March 11, 2019: The latest AI algorithms are probing the evolution of galaxies, calculating quantum wave functions, discovering new chemical compounds and more. Is there anything that scientists do that can’t be automated? Fermilab scientist Brian Nord comments on using artificial neural networks to study the cosmos.

Tenacious persistence

Fermilab’s Liz Sexton-Kennedy talks to Symmetry about her lifelong drive to learn and how it led to her current role as chief information officer for Fermilab. Jim Daley spoke to Sexton-Kennedy about her experiences in STEM, her career at Fermilab and a bit about herself.