̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Paul Shellard

Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology named Intel oneAPI Center of Excellence

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��oneAPI Center of Excellence will focus on advancing cosmological research, open-source code development, and in situ compute and visualisation, as well as teaching computational and visualisation coding techniques.

̽��ֱ��Centre for Theoretical Cosmology was established by Professor Stephen Hawking in 2007 within the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. It exists to advance the scientific understanding of our universe, developing and testing mathematical theories for cosmology and black holes.

Over the past six years, Hawking CTC Director Professor Paul Shellard and the COSMOS computing team have collaborated with Intel on developing and optimising several codes with many simulations and visualization results for cosmology study. This includes areas such as the analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), simulations of Einstein’s General Relativity and the creation of gravitational waves during black hole or boson star collisions, and by cosmic string networks.

̽��ֱ��COSMOS team, its work and computational and visualisation discoveries together with Intel were documented in the Discovery+ “UNIVERSE UNRAVELED” series currently available in select countries, including the UK.

A major goal of the Hawking CTC is to continue Professor Hawking’s vision of confronting our models of the Universe with the latest observations to reveal deep connections between quantum and galactic scales, while explaining such discoveries in ways understandable by everyone. Hawking recognised that this high-precision data and our complex theories can only touch each other using powerful computers.

“We are honoured to be among the vanguard of institutions chosen to be an Intel oneAPI Center of Excellence, ensuring we build on our longstanding collaboration on in situ visualisation and code modernisation as we prepare to study the Universe at exascale,” said Shellard. “We’re committed to flexible platform-independent programming paradigms so that we can do more with fewer people, focusing on trying out new ideas and new algorithms for our cosmology workflows. ̽��ֱ��oneAPI development tools offer us a fast pathway on to the widest range of HPC architectures, especially the latest GPU accelerators, so we can respond to the flood of new cosmological data sooner.”

“Intel is pleased to extend the highly impactful work done by the Hawking CTC Intel Graphics and Visualization Institute by adding the centre to our growing family of Intel oneAPI Centers of Excellence,” said Jim Jeffers, senior principal engineer and senior director of Intel Advanced Rendering and Visualization. “As part of this program, the Hawking CTC can take full advantage of state-of-the-art software development tools and advanced CPUs and GPUs to break new ground in understanding our universe. This honours the legacy of Stephen Hawking and his passion, vision, and goal to answer the ultimate questions of our existence, our past and our future.”

̽��ֱ��Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (Hawking CTC) at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is expanding its Intel Graphics and Visualization Institute of Xellence (Intel GVI) to an Intel oneAPI Center of Excellence, which will help expand our understanding of the universe.

Amelia Drew (CTC, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge) and Carson Brownlee (Intel Advanced Visualisation and Rendering)

Visualisation of radiation from a cosmic string network created with the help of the Intel oneAPI Rendering Toolkit.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Universe unravelled: Stephen Hawking Centre collaborates on new streaming series

sc604 — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 10:51:13 +0000

̽��ֱ��Universe Unravelled series premieres on Discovery+ in November 2020, coinciding with the UK launch of this new digital platform. ̽��ֱ��series is aimed at anyone who is curious about the Universe we live in, with no previous knowledge of cosmology required. Across more than 20 short episodes, the series explores what we already know about the Universe, what cosmologists and relativists are working on right now, and where new observations may lead in the future.

̽��ֱ��programme is inspired by the late Stephen Hawking’s ground-breaking work on cosmology, black holes and gravitational waves, and features researchers from the Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (CTC) and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��series explores the big questions in contemporary research which are being driven by new observations, such as the recent discovery of gravitational waves. It starts with Einstein’s general theory of relativity, describing how massive objects warp the fabric of spacetime and how they can collapse under their own gravity to form black holes. It explores how these black holes can send gravitational waves rippling across spacetime, and what happens if you were to fall into a black hole.

̽��ֱ��series also describes the violent explosion that marked the beginning of our Universe, and how the Universe expanded from this initial Big Bang, forming all the structures we observe today – galaxies, stars and planets. It then probes the mysteries that still puzzle cosmologists, such as dark energy and dark matter. ̽��ֱ��series ends with a future outlook of what we might expect to learn from ambitious new observational programmes. All the basic concepts underlying are presented in an easily accessible manner, and it features stunning graphics, some produced in collaboration with Intel’s Advanced Visualization team.

̽��ֱ��series features CTC and Kavli researchers explaining these remarkable concepts. It offers a glimpse of what it’s like to work at the cutting edge of cosmology: confronting sophisticated mathematics with observational data, employing some of the world’s fastest supercomputers, and even daring to challenge Einstein's highly successful theory in an attempt to explain what has so far defied explanation. Viewers not only learn about the deepest secrets of our Universe, but also find out about the everyday life of students and staff at a world-leading research centre.

̽��ֱ��collaboration between Discovery and the CTC started in 2010. A highlight was Discovery live-streaming Stephen Hawking's 75th birthday symposium which was a huge success watched by millions, especially among younger members of their audience.

̽��ֱ��series was filmed at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences and the Institute of Astronomy and produced with the help of science editors from Plus magazine, part of the ̽��ֱ��’s Millennium Mathematics Project outreach programme.

̽��ֱ��CTC team worked closely with Navada Studios, who were responsible for the video production, with editorial oversight from Discovery producers. Funding for the project was provided by the Kavli Foundation, an organisation dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity, promoting public understanding of scientific research, and supporting scientists and their work.

“We are grateful to Discovery and the Kavli Foundation for supporting this unique opportunity to continue Stephen Hawking’s vision of reaching out, especially to younger audiences, to inspire curiosity about our Universe and the huge progress currently being made to unveil its secrets,” said Paul Shellard, CTC Director. “This was a remarkable collaboration in which we were able to work closely with the production team, ensuring both viewer interest and scientific accuracy, which we hope provides a great model for future science outreach.”

̽��ֱ��series is available on the new Discovery+ service that can be found at discoveryplus.co.uk, together with a short trailer. To find out more about the Hawking Centre, visit ctc.cam.ac.uk.

̽��ֱ��Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology has teamed up with Discovery on a documentary series exploring new windows on our Universe.

We are grateful for this unique opportunity to continue Stephen Hawking’s vision of reaching out, especially to younger audiences, to inspire curiosity about our Universe and the huge progress currently being made to unveil its secrets

Paul Shellard

Discovery+

Universe Unravelled

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Tributes paid to philanthropist Dennis Avery

th288 — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:24:21 +0000

̽��ֱ��US philanthropist Dennis and his wife, Sally Tsui Wong-Avery, established the endowment that led to the creation of the CTC in 2007.

̽��ֱ��ceremony was attended by Sally and family members and friends, as well as the Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ��, the Master of Trinity Hall, where Dennis studied Law as a postgraduate in 1980-81, and a number of faculty, staff and students from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP).

A plaque was unveiled honouring Dennis Avery including a quotation from him, describing how he had endowed the study of cosmology in Cambridge to grow “the appreciation of what the Universe is and is not”.

CTC Director, Professor Paul Shellard, emphasised how significant the Avery family’s gift had been to research in DAMTP:

“This cosmology centre, which Dennis and Sally have endowed, is uniquely situated in a mathematics department. We believe we have the creativity and technical frameworks here to postulate what the universe is or might be, but at the same time we combine this with mathematical rigour to test and winnow these ideas to determine which of them are incorrect, and so we also learn what the universe is not. Dennis’ vision and generosity were extraordinary and we shall be forever grateful for them.”

Dennis Avery was a great philanthropist who supported good causes worldwide, from AIDS orphanages in South Africa to wheelchairs for remote villagers in Tibet.

It was at the White House in 1998 that Professor Stephen Hawking first met Dennis and became aware of his enthusiasm about recent progress in cosmology.

Dennis and Sally were enormously generous in supporting Stephen’s research and legacy in Cambridge, and through their generous gifts Stephen was able to found the CTC, creating a centre of excellence to support outstanding young researchers, and workshops on frontier areas in cosmology and gravitation. They always supported the CTC anonymously, never seeking recognition for themselves.

̽��ֱ��ceremony concluded with the planting of a dove tree in the grounds of the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, just outside the CTC pavilion. ̽��ֱ��tree was dedicated by the Venerable John Beer, Archdeacon of Cambridge.

Professor Hawking was not well enough to participate, but he composed a short tribute for the occasion: “It is with regret that I am unable to attend the DAMTP tree-planting ceremony in memory of Dennis. However, my thoughts are with Sally and all those gathered here today to honour Dennis as both a great friend and as a colleague.”

A memorial tree-planting ceremony honouring the life and friendship of Dennis S. Avery, who died in 2012, was hosted by ̽��ֱ��Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (CTC) last weekend.

Dennis’ vision and generosity were extraordinary and we shall be forever grateful for them

Professor Paul Shellard

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