Beowulf Cluster

Major Research Instrumentation Computer Cluster

The Department of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) and Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics (CAMS) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, under the auspices of the MRI program, have acquired a 64-node Beowulf-class computer cluster for research in the mathematical sciences. Each compute-node of the cluster is composed of two 2.0 GHz, 64-bit processors (AMD Opteron CPU); the cluster includes a total of 256 GB of memory, mass storage devices, scientific software, and hardware for a high speed Myrinet network. The machine is dedicated to the support of research by faculty and graduate students in CAMS and DMS, and is used for projects which involve mathematical modeling and the development of computational techniques to study fundamental processes in physical science and biology. Examples of these projects include: the development of efficient molecular dynamics methods with applications to fluid flow in nano-devices and drug molecule/protein target interactions; simulations of large interacting systems of neurons in the visual cortex; investigations of granular systems; studies of mesoscopic models for surface processes in biology; simulations of surface evolution in crystalline materials; and improved numerical methods for studying aspects of electromagnetic wave propagation.

The research activities are primarily involved with the mathematical modeling of important processes in science and technology and hence are of benefit to scientists and engineers in a wide variety of disciplines. For example, the research on molecular dynamics methods is used to obtain insights in the interactions between drug molecules and their protein targets, numerical simulations of interacting neurons in the visual cortex can lead to an improved understanding of high-level visual processing events, such as ``edge-detection,'' and studies of surface evolution in crystalline materials aid in the design of novel microelectronic devices. In addition, the described research promotes interdisciplinary collaborations between applied mathematicians and scientists in diverse areas. Graduate students and postdocs involved in the research receive training in state-of-the-art numerical techniques.