Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. pyC <sup>2</sup> Ray: A flexible and GPU-accelerated radiative transfer framework for simulating the cosmic epoch of reionization
 
research article

pyC 2 Ray: A flexible and GPU-accelerated radiative transfer framework for simulating the cosmic epoch of reionization

Hirling, P.  
•
Bianco, M.  
•
Giri, S. K.
Show more
July 1, 2024
Astronomy and Computing

Detailed modeling of the evolution of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization, 5≤z≤20, is critical in interpreting the cosmological signals from current and upcoming 21-cm experiments such as the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Numerical radiative transfer codes provide the most physically accurate models of the reionization process. However, they are computationally expensive as they must encompass enormous cosmological volumes while accurately capturing astrophysical processes occurring at small scales (≲Mpc). Here, we present pyC 2 Ray, an updated version of the massively parallel ray-tracing and chemistry code, C 2 -Ray, which has been extensively employed in reionization simulations. The most time-consuming part of the code is calculating the hydrogen column density along the path of the ionizing photons. Here, we present the Accelerated Short-characteristics Octahedral ray-tracing (ASORA) method, a ray-tracing algorithm specifically designed to run on graphical processing units (GPUs). We include a modern Python interface, allowing easy and customized use of the code without compromising computational efficiency. We test pyC 2 Ray on a series of standard ray-tracing tests and a complete cosmological simulation with volume size (349Mpc)3, mesh size of 2503 and approximately 106 sources. Compared to the original code, pyC 2 Ray achieves the same results with negligible fractional differences, ∼10−5, and a speedup factor of two orders of magnitude. Benchmark analysis shows that ASORA takes a few nanoseconds per source per voxel and scales linearly for an increasing number of sources and voxels within the ray-tracing radii.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.ascom.2024.100861
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85200452992

Author(s)
Hirling, P.  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Bianco, M.  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Giri, S. K.

The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Iliev, I. T.

University of Sussex

Mellema, G.

Oskar Klein Centre

Kneib, J. P.  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Date Issued

2024-07-01

Published in
Astronomy and Computing
Volume

48

Article Number

100861

Subjects

21-cm

•

Cosmology

•

Epoch of reionization

•

GPU methods

•

Intergalactic medium

•

Radiative transfer

•

Ray-tracing

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
GALSPEC  
LASTRO  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

SERI

Swiss National Supercomputing Centre

State Secretariat of Science, Innovation, Research, and Education

Show more
Available on Infoscience
January 24, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/243640
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés