GPU-Accelerated Visualization of High-order Physics Simulation Meshes

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Computer Science, 2019-20

Liaison(s): Cyrus Harrison, Matt Larsen, Walt Nissen ’00, Kenny Weiss
Advisor(s): Christopher A. Stone
Students(s): Ben Baral, Gabe Bessler (PM-F), Julia Read (PM-S), David Sobek

Physicists can better understand the physical world by visualizing simulations as they evolve. In an effort to improve the ray tracing of complex physics simulation meshes on highly parallel systems, this project explores subdivision strategies, bounding volume hierarchy construction and methods of solving point location while investigating the tradeoffs of speed and accuracy. This work supports high-order numerical methods that yield curved representations of physical space and are well suited for modern supercomputers.