Collaboratory operations in magnetic fusion scientific research

Abstract

Collaboration is an increasingly important aspect of physics research, particularly for complex and expensive experiments. Large experiments often rely on national or international teams of researchers to optimize goals and to provide greater use of facilities. Availability of highperformance workstations and fast, reliable wide-area networks affords the possibility of realizing "collaborative laboratories" comprising researchers and infrastructure widely dispersed geographically. We have developed a collaboratory supporting interactive research on a mainline scientific facility, the DIII-D tokamak experiment [5] (Figure 1). Distributed computations and data access provide resource sharing among institutions.

Collaboratories

“…The EMSL Collaboratory, described above, is one of several collaboratory test beds funded by the Department of Energy under the DOE 2000 initiative. Other projects include the Diesel Combustion Collaboratory (1997–2000) (Pancerella, Rahn, & Yang, 1999); the Materials Microcharacterization Collaboratory (MCC, 1997–2000) (Zaluzec, 1997, 1998); and the Remote Experiment Environment (REE, 1994–1997), a collaboratory to support observation and participation in magnetic fusion energy research involving the DIII‐D tokamak experiment (Caspar et al, 1998; McHarg, Caspar, Davis, & Greenwood, 1999). A tokamak is a machine for creating a toroidally shaped magnetic confinement field used to contain the plasma, or very high‐temperature gases, required to achieve a fusion reaction.…”

Issues for Science and Engineering Researchers in the Digital Age

“…The extent to which the university campus will lose its relevance to scientific research as virtual communities of scholars evolve is uncertain. Researchers and administrators have been discussing the impacts for a decade or more (see, for example, Lenzer, 1977;National Research Council, 1993, 1994, 1996Sproull and Kiesler, 1991;Casper, 1995;Noam, 1995;Wulf, 1995;Casper et al, 1998;O'Donnell, 1998; and the Vision 2010 project supported by the Carnegie Foundation http:// www.si.umich.edu/V2010/home.html#indexmap]). It is clear that many of the functions of the local campus (such as the traditional library and some of the delivery of "mass market" undergraduate and technical education) are being threatened by information technology.…”

Design through matchmaking

“…Although the preparation for a single experiment often takes months, we currently are concentrating only on the on-site activities during the actual day of an experimental run. This work demands real-time synchronization and exchange of data among multiple computer networks in experiments that involve as many as 40 to 50 scientists and technicians at a time [1].…”