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The Process of Computation and ComplexSystems

 

There is no agreed-upon process behind computation, that is, behind the use of a computer to solve a particular problem. We have tried to quantify this in Figures 3.1(b), 3.2(b), and 3.3 which show a problem being first numerically formulated and then mapped by software onto a computer.

  
Figure 3.3: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Computing with Computational Science Shown Shaded

Even if we could get agreement on such an ``underlying'' process, the definitions of the parts of the process are not precise and correspondingly the roles of the ``experts'' are poorly defined. This underlies much of the controversy, and in particular, why we cannot at present or probably ever be able to define ``The best software methodology for parallel computing.''

How can we agree on a solution (What is the appropriate software?) unless we can agree on the task it solves?

``What is computation and how can it be broken up into components?''
In other words, what is the underlying process?

In spite of our pessimism that there is any clean, precise answer to this question, progress can be made with an imperfect process defined for computation. In the earlier figures, it was stressed that software could be viewed as mapping problems onto computers. We can elaborate this as shown in Figure 3.4, with the solution to a question pictured as a sequence of idealizations or simplifications which are finally mapped onto the computer. This process is spelled out for four examples in Figures 3.5 and 3.6. In each case, we have tried to indicate possible labels for components of the process. However, this can only be approximate. We are not aware of an accepted definition for the theoretical or computational parts of the process. Again, which parts are modelling  or simulation? Further, there is only an approximate division of responsibility among the various ``experts''; for example, between the theoretical physicist and the computational physicist, or among aerodynamics,  applied mathematics, and computer science. We have also not illustrated that, in each case, the numerical algorithm is dependent on the final computer architecture targeted; in particular, the best parallel algorithm is often different from the best conventional sequential algorithm.

  
Figure 3.4: An Idealized Process of Computation

  
Figure 3.5: A Process for Computation in Two Examples in Basic Physics Simulations

  
Figure 3.6: A Process for Computation in Two Examples from Large Scale System Simulations

We can abstract Figures 3.5 and 3.6 into a sequence of maps between complex systems , .

 

We have anticipated (Chapter 5) and broken the software into a high level component (such as a compiler)  and a lower level one (such as an assembler) which maps a ``virtual computer'' into the particular machine under consideration. In fact, the software could have more stages, but two is the most common case for simple (sequential) computers.

A complex system, as used here, is defined as a collection of fundamental entities whose static or dynamic properties define a connection scheme between the entities. Complex systems have a structure or architecture. For instance, a binary hypercube parallel computer of dimension d is a complex system with members connected in a hypercube topology. We can focus in on the node of the hypercube and expand the node, viewed itself as a complex system, into a collection of memory hierarchies, caches, registers, CPU., and communication channels. Even here, we find another ill-defined point with the complex system representing the computer dependent on the resolution or granularity with which you view the system. The importance of the architecture of a computer system has been recognized for many years. We suggest that the architecture or structure of the problem is comparably interesting. Later, we will find that the performance of a particular problem or machine can be studied in terms of the match (similarity) between the architectures of the complex systems and defined in Equation 3.1. We will find that the structure of the appropriate parallel software will depend on the broad features of the (similar) architecture of and . This can be expected as software maps the two complex systems into each other.

At times, we have talked in terms of problem architecture,  but this is ambiguous since it could refer to any of the complex systems which can and usually do have different architectures. Consider the second example of Figure 3.5 with the computational fluid dynamics  study of airflow. In the language of Equation 3.1:

 

is a (finite) collection of molecules interacting with long-range Van der Waals and other forces. This interaction defines a complete interconnect between all members of the complex system .

is the infinite degree of freedom continuum with the fundamental entities as infinitesimal volumes of air connected locally by the partial differential operator of the Navier Stokes  equation.

could depend on the particular numerical formulation used. Multigrid, conjugate gradient , direct matrix inversion and alternating gradient would have very different structures in the direct numerical solution of the Navier Stokes equations. The more radical cellular automata  approach would be quite different again.

would depend on the final computer being used and division between high and low level in software. In the applications described in this book, would typically be a simple binary hypercube with nodes.

would be embroidered by the details of the hardware communication (circuit or packet switching, wormhole or other routing). Further, as described above, in some analyses we could look at this complex system in greater resolution and expose the details of the processor node architecture.



next up previous contents index
Next: Examples of Complex Up: 3 A Methodology for Previous: 3.1 Introduction



Guy Robinson
Wed Mar 1 10:19:35 EST 1995