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The co-evolution of computational physics and high-performance computing

Nature Reviews Physics volume 6, pages 621–627 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

High-performance computational physics has been instrumental in advancing scientific research by regularly providing breakthroughs in speed, accuracy and modelling fidelity. This Perspective highlights the contributions of physicists to the development of high-performance computing infrastructure, algorithms and applications from the early days of computing to the exascale era. We recall the pioneering work of Fermi and von Neumann, who set directions and laid foundations for computational science and examine the ongoing impact of physicists in overcoming current challenges in high-performance computing, such as energy consumption and data storage. As we celebrate milestones such as exascale computing and generative artificial intelligence, it is inspiring to recognize the enduring influence of physicists in driving technological innovations and ensuring the future progress of computational science.

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Fig. 1: Plots of logarithm of performance in floating-point operations per second (flop s−1) versus time in years.
Fig. 2: Borromean rings highlighting the interdependence of software, architecture and algorithms, and the three interdependent components of hardware architecture.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Iulia Georgescu for historical observations and her motivation for this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Jack Dongarra

  2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Jack Dongarra

  3. University of Manchester, England, UK

    Jack Dongarra

  4. Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

    David Keyes

  5. Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    David Keyes

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  1. Jack Dongarra
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The authors contributed equally to all aspects of the article.

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Correspondence to Jack Dongarra or David Keyes.

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Nature Reviews Physics thanks Junichiro Makino and the other, anonymous, referee(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Dongarra, J., Keyes, D. The co-evolution of computational physics and high-performance computing. Nat Rev Phys 6, 621–627 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-024-00750-z

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