Architecture and performance characteristics of modern high performance computers

Abstract

In the past two decades the accessible compute power for numerical simulations has increased by more than three orders ofmagnitude. Many-particle physics has largely benefited from this development because the complex particle-particle interactions often exceed the capabilities of analytical approaches and require sophisticated numerical simulations. The significance of these simulations, which may require large amounts of data and compute cycles, is frequently determined both by the choice of an appropriate numerical method or solver and the efficient use of modern computers. In particular, the latter point is widely underestimated and requires an understanding of the basic concepts of current (super) computer systems. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008.