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Register a new userThe Los Alamos Computing Facility during the Manhattan Project
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B. J. Archer
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This article describes the history of the computing facility at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project, 1944 to 1946. The hand computations are briefly discussed, but the focus is on the IBM Punch Card Accounting Machines (PCAM). During WWII the Los Alamos facility was one of most advanced PCAM facilities both in the machines and in the problems being solved.
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The history and advances of neutronics calculations at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project through the present is reviewed. We briefly summarize early simpler, and more approximate neutronics methods. We then motivate the need to better predict neutronics behavior through consideration of theoretical equations, models and algorithms, experimental measurements, and available computing capabilities and their limitations. These, coupled with increasing post-war defense needs, and the invention of electronic computing led to the creation of Monte Carlo neutronics transport. As a part of the history, we note the crucial role that the scientific comradery between the great Los Alamos scientists played in the process. We focus heavily on these early developments and the subsequent successes of Monte Carlo and its applications to problems of national defense at Los Alamos. We cover the early methods, algorithms, and computers, electronic and women pioneers, that enabled Monte Carlo to spread to all areas of science.
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The development and theory of an experiment to investigate quantum computation with trapped calcium ions is described. The ion trap, laser and ion requirements are determined, and the parameters required for quantum logic operations as well as simple quantum factoring are described.
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We present a new, publicly available, set of Los Alamos OPLIB opacity tables for the elements hydrogen through zinc. Our tables are computed using the Los Alamos ATOMIC opacity and plasma modeling code, and make use of atomic structure calculations that use fine-structure detail for all the elements considered. Our equation-of-state (EOS) model, known as ChemEOS, is based on the minimization of free energy in a chemical picture and appears to be a reasonable and robust approach to determining atomic state populations over a wide range of temperatures and densities. In this paper we discuss in detail the calculations that we have performed for the 30 elements considered, and present some comparisons of our monochromatic opacities with measurements and other opacity codes. We also use our new opacity tables in solar modeling calculations and compare and contrast such modeling with previous work.
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