Simulation of 1 + 1 dimensional surface growth and lattices gases using GPUs

Restricted solid on solid surface growth models can be mapped onto binary lattice gases. We show that efficient simulation algorithms can be realized on GPUs either by CUDA or by OpenCL programming. We consider a deposition/evaporation model following Kardar-Parisi-Zhang growth in 1 + 1 dimensions related to the Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process and show that for sizes, that fit into the shared memory of GPUs one can achieve the maximum parallelization speedup (∼×100 for a Quadro FX 5800 graphics card with respect to a single CPU of 2.67 GHz). This permits us to study the effect of quenched columnar disorder, requiring extremely long simulation times. We compare the CUDA realization with an OpenCL implementation designed for processor clusters via MPI. A two-lane traffic model with randomized turning points is also realized and the dynamical behavior has been investigated. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved