August 9, 2011 at 17:59LHC @ home 2.0 opened to all
CERN has begun open beta testing of the popular distributed computing program LHC @ home 2.0 . The first version of LHC @ home 1.0 since 2004 was used to simulate the behavior of a charged particle beam at various exposure parameters of the control magnets of the Large Hadron Collider. This was important for tuning the LHC magnets, but nothing more.
The second version of the program is fundamentally different. Here, real collisions of particles are simulated for various parameters. The Large Hadron Collider is the largest scientific experiment in the history of mankind. And now we can all participate in this.
In the framework of the Test4Theory project, the results of calculations from users' home PCs enter the central database, which is used by physicists to test and correct theories, search for and explain new phenomena. The Test4Theory project has been in alpha testing since October 2010 (by invite), and now it has opened to everyone: see the instructions for installing the client (we will warn you in advance: you need 9 GB of free disk space).
Test4Theory is the first step to moving part of the data processing from the Large Hadron Collider from grid systems to a distributed network on ordinary users' computers. This is relevant in connection with budget cuts. Anyway, for calculations in the field of quantum physics unlimited computing resources are required.
You can evaluate the potential of distributed computing using the example of the largest in the history of the distributed computing project SETI @ Home (entered in the Guinness Book of Records). Now 231,624 computers are participating in it , which corresponds to the processing power of approximately the 14th largest supercomputer in the list of Top 500.
The second version of the program is fundamentally different. Here, real collisions of particles are simulated for various parameters. The Large Hadron Collider is the largest scientific experiment in the history of mankind. And now we can all participate in this.
In the framework of the Test4Theory project, the results of calculations from users' home PCs enter the central database, which is used by physicists to test and correct theories, search for and explain new phenomena. The Test4Theory project has been in alpha testing since October 2010 (by invite), and now it has opened to everyone: see the instructions for installing the client (we will warn you in advance: you need 9 GB of free disk space).
Test4Theory is the first step to moving part of the data processing from the Large Hadron Collider from grid systems to a distributed network on ordinary users' computers. This is relevant in connection with budget cuts. Anyway, for calculations in the field of quantum physics unlimited computing resources are required.
You can evaluate the potential of distributed computing using the example of the largest in the history of the distributed computing project SETI @ Home (entered in the Guinness Book of Records). Now 231,624 computers are participating in it , which corresponds to the processing power of approximately the 14th largest supercomputer in the list of Top 500.