The Potential Impact of High-End Capability Computing on Four Illustrative Fields of Science and Engineering

Many federal funding requests for more advanced computer resources assume implicitly that greater computing power creates opportunities for advancement in science and engineering. This has often been a good assumption. Given stringent pressures on the federal budget, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) are seeking an improved approach to the formulation and review of requests from the agencies for new computing funds. This book examines, for four illustrative fields of science and engineering, how one can start with an understanding of their major challenges and discern how progress against those challenges depends on high-end capability computing (HECC). The four fields covered are: atmospheric science astrophysics chemical separations evolutionary biology This book finds that all four of these fields are critically dependent on HECC, but in different ways. The book characterizes the components that combine to enable new advances in computational science and engineering and identifies aspects that apply to multiple fields. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Problem Definition and History 2 The Potential Impact of HECC in Astrophysics 3 The Potential Impact of HECC in the Atmospheric Sciences 4 The Potential Impact of HECC in Evolutionary Biology 5 The Potential Impact of HECC in Chemical Separations 6 Numerical and Algorithmic Characteristics of HECC That Will Be Required by the Selected Fields 7 Conclusions Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members Appendix B: Agendas of Committee Meetings Appendix C: Glossary