THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2014/2015
Archive for reference only
THIS PAGE IS OUT OF DATE

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Physics and Astronomy : Postgraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy)

Postgraduate Course: Parallel Numerical Algorithms (PGPH11076)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Physics and Astronomy CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThe demand for performance of scientific applications as the driver for massive parallelism in computational science is reviewed. Basic algorithmic complexity theory is described, and parallel scaling introduced. Computational patterns, sometimes known as the ¿seven dwarfs¿¿ and how they are implemented in serial and parallel are described, how they scale, and which applications use them. The use of
libraries such as ScaLAPACK and PETSc are reviewed.

Topics include:
- Computational science as the third methodology
- Fundamentals of algorithmic complexity O(N) etc
- Basic numerics, floating-point representation and exceptions
- Complexity theory and parallel scaling analysis
(weak and strong scaling)
- Implementing parallelism in the ¿seven dwarfs¿, scaling and example applications
(N-body/particle methods, Simple ODEs, Dense Linear Algebra ,algorithms and libraries (LAPACK)
- Sparse Linear Algebra
(PDEs, BVPs and their solution (pollution problem), IVPs and implicit methods)
- Spectral methods
(FFW and applications)
- Structured grids
- Unstructured grids
- Verification
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 63 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) Please contact the School for further information
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 100 %, Coursework 0 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% examination consisting of a two hour exam
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course students should be able to:

- explain why computer simulation is an essential technique in many areas of science, and understand
its advantages and limitations
- Explain how real-valued quantities are represented on a computer as floating-point variables.
- Discuss the various sources of error relevant for computational simulation.
- Explain when different methods (particle, grid, stationary, time dependent) are applicable, and
compare the strengths and weaknesses of different parallelisation strategies.
- Convert simple partial differential equations into numerical form.
- Select and implement the most appropriate method for solving a given system of linear equations.
- Use standard numerical libraries in their own codes.
- Diagnose when a numerical algorithm may be failing due to limited machine precision or floating point
exceptions.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsPNA (S1)
Contacts
Course organiserDr Christopher Johnson
Tel:
Email: Chris.Johnson@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary Yuhua Lei
Tel: (0131 6) 517067
Email: yuhua.lei@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information
 
© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh - 12 January 2015 4:33 am