Skip to main content

deal.ii Workshop

deal.ii Workshop

Location: Math and Computer Science Building, Durham University
Thursday: MCS 2050
Friday: MCS 2051
Time and date: Thursday April 3rd and Friday April 4th 9:00 -16:00

Please register via Forms

deal.II is an open-source general-purpose finite-element C++ library with origins in 1997 at the University of Heidelberg. Since then, it has evolved into a mature and worldwide developed mathematical software library. It is the basis of applications ranging from traditional application fields like computational solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, biomechanics, and geosciences to more “exotic” fields of research such as quantum and plasma physics. The scalability of deal.II has been shown by solving partial differential equations with trillions of unknowns on 300k processes. Recent developments include GPU support via Kokkos, simplex and mixed mesh support as well as immersed mesh computations via CutFEM.

In this two-day workshop, we bring together deal.II users from different application fields at Durham University (and those who want to become one) and learn from a deal.II expert about new features and good practices. For this purpose, we have invited Peter Munch from the Technical University of Berlin, who has been one of the principal developers of deal.II developer since 2020. His research interests lie in the fields of high-performance computing, preconditioning, computational fluid mechanics, and immersed methods.

Timetable

Thursday
9:00–10:00Welcome and introduction of participants
10:00-10:15Coffee Break
10:15–12:15Introduction in deal.II
includes introduction to the documentation and tutorials
12:00–13:00lunch
13:00–14:00coding
14:00-14:15Coffee Break
14:15–15:00coding (open end)
15:00-16:00lecture 1: Matrix-free algorithms
19:00-workshop dinner
Friday
9:00–10:00Lecture 2: Solvers
locally refined meshes and linear solvers
10:00-10:15Coffee Break
10:15–11:15Lecture 3: applications
11:15-12:00Coding (optional)
12:00–13:00lunch
13:00–16:00Coding (optional)

Installation instructions

The workshop will take place in one of our computer labs, giving you the option to work on these machines. If you would prefer to work directly on your own machine, please check before the start of the workshop that you have all the required software:

  • Linux environment: for Windows users this requires WSL (Windows
    Subsystem for Linux)
  • deal.II (along with its dependencies)
  • Paraview for visualization
  • A code editor (e.g., visual studio code)

If you have access to a Linux environment, you can move to the next
step.

For Windows users:

  1. Follow the instructions here to be able to use Ubuntu 22.04 on
    your computer.
  2. If you encounter this error:
    wslregisterdistribution failed with error: WSL 2 requires an update to its kernel component
    Use the information here to fix it.
  3. Once Ubuntu is installed, launch it, create your username and
    password.

Open Ubuntu and write the following commands in the terminal one at a
time:

sudo -i
export REPO=ppa:ginggs/deal.ii-9.6.0-backports
apt-get update
apt-get install -y software-properties-common
add-apt-repository $REPO
apt-get update
apt-get install libdeal.ii-dev


This may take a few minutes…

Note: To install deal.II on MacOS, follow the instructions here

Follow the instructions to install Paraview here depending on your
operating system.

  • Follow the instructions to install Visual Studio Code here depending
    on your operating system. Consider installing the WSL extension
    and/or the C/C++ Extension Pack.

Travel in and around Durham and accommodation

The workshop will take place in the MCS Building marked by (1).

The University’s official Visit Us page provides some general guidance how to find us. The Department of Computer Science is on Mount Joy next to the Botanic Garden. Here are some further remarks how to get there:

  • If you are arriving at Newcastle International, take the tram (there’s only one) to Newcastle Central (less than 40 minute) and then take a train to the South. Durham is 15 minutes away from Newcastle Central.
  • Alternatively, you can take a taxi from the airport (should be around 60 GBP for a drive of around 40 minutes in total). You can book a taxi directly within the airport at the counter next to the International Arrivals.
  • From Durham train station, it is a 30-40 minute walk, which is quite beautiful.
  • Taxis should be available from the station and should be around 10-15 GBP.
  • Right in front of the station, there’s a bus stop with two lines:
  • Bus 42 to Mount Oswald. It runs every 30 minutes. Get off at “South Road Colleges” and walk up the hill from there (5 minutes).
  • Bus 41 to University Science Park. Hop off at the final stop.