What is the DMC and what are our goals?

Detector Monte Carlo software has been developed by Super CDMS to simulate phonon and charge propogation within the detectors in addition to detector read out (for both charge and phonons). There is a complete software package known as the matlab DMC in addition to a Geant4 package known as G4CMP (for Condensed Matter Physics) that is currently being developed. The simulation from the DMC can ideally match real data from the detectors, and therefore be a powerful tool in helping predict outcomes and understanding the mechanisms and backgrounds behind the experimental data and results.

Here at A&M we provide CPU power to the DMC group through the Brazos cluster which allows us to aid in large-scale simulation production. Our benchmarks for simulations are ~10,000 events/day on Brazos running anywhere from 2,000-3,000 CPU cores at a time. These numbers can vary depending on usage of the cluster, but development of submission scripts and monitoring has ensured our simulations run consistently and flawlessly.

In addition to providing CPU, we are also working with others to improve the documentation and processing of the simulation results, which can then be used for analysis. See the diagram below for a depiction of the workflow of simulating data with the DMC.