High performance Beowulf computer for lattice QCD

The ZhongShan University Computational Physics group’s interests [1] cover such topics as lattice QCD[2–5] quantum instanton[6] and quantum chaos[7]. Most of these topics can be studied through Monte Carlo simulation, but can be quite costly in terms of computing power. In order to do large scale numerical investigations of these topics, we required a corresponding development of our local computing resources. The demarcation between super computers and personal computers has been further blurred in recent years by the high speed and low price of modern CPUs and networking technology and the availability of low cost or free software. By combining these three elements all readily available to the consumer one can assemble a true super computer that is within the budget of small research labs and businesses. We document the construction and performance of a Beowulf cluster of PCs, configured to be capable of parallel processing.