Panel D: Theory, computing facilities and networks, Virtual Observatory Preliminary Conclusions

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Panel D Theory, computing facilities and
networks, Virtual ObservatoryPreliminary
Conclusions

• Chair Francoise Combes (Observatoire de Paris)
• Co-Chair Paolo Padovani (ESO)
• Other Panel Members Mark Allen (CDS, Strasbourg)
• James Binney
  (Oxford University)
• Marco de Vos (Dwingeloo)
• Åke Nordlund
  (Copenhagen)
• Matthias
  Steinmetz (Potsdam)

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Main VO Recommendations

• Public, VO-compliant ( modern and
  interoperable) archives should be the norm. Data
  centres should aim to provide science-ready
  data
• Providers (software, theory, modelling) should
  make their tools compatible with the VO
• VO development should be in line with generic
  e-Infrastructure
• Modelling codes should be made modular so that
  they can be easily be accessed through the VO

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Modeling Recommendations

• Hardware Astronomy has great benefit to
  continue
• to share large cutting-edge supercomputer centers
• 10 of a physics oriented center, always
  updated, at the front
• of the technology
• Software Astrophysical Software Laboratory ASL
• knowledge exchanges,Training, man-power (PhD,
  post-docs..)
• Select proposals for Petascale computers
• Future instrumentation (e.g. LOFAR, LSST, GAIA,
  SKA)
• will require supercomputers and networks
• Data processing and VO could be leader in
  Grid-computing
• (as is LHC in astro-particules)

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Panel D Discussion Session

• Various presentations on
• EURO-VO and its sustainability
• Distributed data analysis and survey production
  networks (e.g., ASTROWISE)
• VO implementations theory and GRID in the VO,
  Pulsars, radio sources, atomic and molecular
  physics
• EUROPLANET
• Screensaver science
• Numerical simulations applications and
  perspectives

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Astrophysical Software Laboratory (ASL)

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Inclusion of theory, even not associated to any
  software
• or application
• Inclusion of computer scientists

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About the ASL

• The best codes should be in the ASL, in open
  source
• Several codes on the same domain or problem
• code comparisons are essential for validation
• benches in case of laboratory experiments
• Fastest codes are not the most flexible
• Not only speed, but physics
• - suitable equations of state
• - radiation transport, magnetic fields
• - chemical networks

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High performance computing vs computational
astrophysics

• High performance computing
• - highly specialized and optimized
• - large computational resources needed
• - relatively small user community
• - example Cosmological simulations

• Computational astrophysics
• - flexibility and modularity over speed
• - reasonable computers are enough
• - large user community
• - example Equations of state

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Computational astrophysics

• Computers are essentials at all levels
• - to carry out large scale simulations
• - to analyze data
• - to check new ideas using a simple model

• Required not only power-horse codes
• - also packages as Numerical Recipes
• - equations of state
• - N-body codes
• - simple hydrodynamics codes
• - emphasis on modularity
• ? Skeletons that can be used to build new codes

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Virtual Observatory

• Medium/long term sustainability
• VO in Europe has been supported by the EC (FP6,
  FP7) along with National and ESO ESA
  commitments
• data archiving and distribution, provision for
  data pipelines and VO compliance appear to be on
  the radar screen of new facilities
• it is VITAL that there is European-wide support
  for the technical infrastructure as for the
  railways and the internet, continued maintenance,
  support and development is required
• EUROPLANET European Distributed Facility for
  Planetary Computational Modelling Data Analysis
• very similar issues to those of EURO-VO more
  synergy needed, discussion started

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Virtual Observatory

• GRID and VO interaction unnecessarily negative,
  in the report
• Fraction of facilities planning to be VO
  compliant (53 of those which said they were
  planning an archive) misleading most major data
  centres are already on-board (fraction of data
  planned to be VO compliant much larger)
• Interface and standards for data analysis
  software
• (cf Opticon FP6 network on Future Astronomical
  Software
• Environments)

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Ways for implementation

• How to finance the ASL
• As each facility has already included
  data-processing/VO
• to which level? (to be discussed)
• and also a certain percentage of outreach
  activities,
• ?Each facility should consider contributing 2 of
• financial cost to the ASL

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Support for theoretical investigations must be
proportional and synchronised with the great
data-gathering projects undertaken in
laboratories and observatories.
From the OECD Workshops on Future Large-Scale
Projects and Programmes in Astronomy and
Astrophysics in 2004