Using high performance Fortran for magnetohydrodynamic simulations

Two scientific application programs, the Versatile Advection Code (VAC) and the HEating by Resonant Absorption (HERA) code are adapted to parallel computer platforms. Both programs can solve the time-dependent nonlinear partial differential equations of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) with different numerical schemes. We describe our approach to parallelize the original Fortran 90 (F90) source codes using high performance Fortran (HPF). Optimization strategies, scaling results, and comparison with performance on Vector supercomputers are discussed. We find that the data parallel approach is quite successful for our applications both in terms of single node performance and parallel scaling. The combined use of VAC and HERA allows us to address complementary aspects of fully 3-dimensional plasma dynamics. This is demonstrated for a Kelvin-Helmholtz unstable magnetized cylindrical jet. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved