ICECap looks to use exascale fusion simulations to pioneer digital design

A groundbreaking multidisciplinary team of LLNL researchers is combining the power of exascale computing with AI, advanced workflows and graphics processor (GPU)-acceleration to advance scientific innovation and revolutionize digital design. The project, called ICECap (Inertial Confinement on El Capitan), is a transformative approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) design optimization targeted primarily for El Capitan, the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) first exascale computer. At the core of ICECap is discovering the next generation of robust, high-yield ICF designs, expanding the possibilities of computational science and shaping the future of plasma science through emerging technologies. ICF has implications for NNSA’s stockpile stewardship mission, as well as future viable fusion power plants. Described in a paper published by the journal Physics of Plasmas, ICECap represents a leap forward in high performance computing, setting the stage for an era where “hero runs”—large-scale multiphysics simulations—become routine. With a focus on data-driven approaches to digital design and computational modeling, ICECap team members said the project could not only potentially accelerate science but transform the way scientists conduct research and drive advancements across various disciplines, offering new solutions to previously untenable problems. “With ICECap, we're trying to see how we can leverage AI to really change the way we do scientific discovery,” said ICECap principal investigator Luc Peterson, an LLNL physicist. “We have supercomputers that can do fantastic simulations, but how can we use AI to help us take advantage of them to find new things? We’re doing this on El Capitan because we think we’re at the point where we can actually do both breadth and depth in computing, so you can search lots of parameter spaces to find what you're looking for and do it all in extremely high fidelity.” Read more at LLNL News.