Delivering Science on Day One

While benchmarking software is useful for testing the performance limits and stability of Argonne National Laboratory's new Theta supercomputer, there's no substitute for running real applications to explore the system's potential. The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility's Theta Early Science Program, modeled after its highly successful code migration program for the Mira supercomputer, has one primary aim: to deliver science on day one. This article offers a closer look at the type of science problems that will get early access to Theta, a next-generation machine being rolled out this year. © 1999-2011 IEEE.