IMR-MIP DANSE - Distributed Data Analysis for Neutron Scattering Experiments - CNST

This is an award for the construction of a Distributed Data Analysis for Neutron Scattering Experiments (DANSE) at the Spallation Neutron Source. It is supported by the Instrumentation for Materials Research- Mid Scale Instrumentation project program in DMR, the Office of Multidisciplinary Activity in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate, as well as the Chemistry division in DMR and the Chemical Transport Division in Engineering Directorate. The goals of the DANSE project are to build a software system that 1) enables new and more sophisticated science to be performed with neutron scattering experiments, 2) makes the analysis of data easier for all scientists, and 3) provides a robust software infrastructure that can be maintained in the future. The DANSE project was prompted by the development of the Spallation Neutron Source (http://www.sns.gov) (SNS). In 2006 the SNS will start to produce intense beams of neutrons to be used as probes of materials, molecules, and condensed matter. Neutron scattering experiments performed at the SNS will produce data of unprecedented detail on the positions and motions of atoms and spins in materials, molecules, and condensed matter. The raw experimental data acquired using the SNS instruments are not simple to interpret, and new software is required to transform the data into useful forms. Using several major advances in computational materials science that have occurred over the past decade the DANSE project will provide new data reduction and interpretation capabilities beyond what are available today. The DANSE project includes a central resource activity centered at Caltech, and 5 components based at different institutions: diffraction led by Simon J.L. Billinge of Michigan State Univ., engineering diffraction led by Ersan Ustundag of Iowa State Univ. , reflectometry led by Paul Kienzle of the Univ. of Maryland, small-angle scattering led by Paul Butler of the Univ. of Tennessee, and inelastic scattering led by Frans Trouw of Los Alamos with B. Fultz.

Information about the project is available at http://wiki.cacr.caltech.edu/danse/index.php/Main_Page

The project is helping to organize the neutron scattering science community in the U.S., and has generated worldwide interest. DANSE is a natural application for grid-based computing, and the layered design of the DANSE framework was planned for migration to the TeraGrid, or a similar future cyber infrastructure. The DANSE framework could be adapted for data analysis in other fields of science. An outreach effort has been planned as collaboration with education professionals at Iowa State University.