HISTORY

With the remarkable increase in computing power, science has undergone a major evolution in modelling and numerical simulation for the study of complex systems. More recently, the massive production of data and AI, combined with computing power, have also been originators of innovations in many scientific and diverse fields, such as life sciences, energy, finance, climate change, industry of the future, etc. The meetings in Saint-Girons have focused on quintessential numerical tools that have been a requisite for sustaining that evolution and innovation, in a period ranging from a BBN Butterfly computer to more recent exascale systems.

The first Sparse Days Meeting in Saint-Girons, back in 1994, was spearheaded by the late Gene Golub, as a startup for the International Linear Algebra Year (ILAY) that was subsequently organized by the Algorithms Group at GIP CERFACS (Groupement d’Intérêt Public – Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique). The earlier meetings in Saint-Girons were mostly focused on numerical linear algebra and optimisation, as these computations have often been highly time-consuming in many large-scale computer simulations in science and engineering, such as computational fluid dynamics, structural analysis, and the design of new materials. We have witnessed great progress in these areas: as an example, applications can nowadays lead to systems with well over a billion variables.

Since the power and efficiency of computer systems have grown rapidly largely because of the introduction of new processor technologies such as multicore and accelerators, research in high-performance linear algebra has remained by nature at the intersection of many fields. The meetings in Saint-Girons have explored the interplays between algorithms, applications and computer architectures. In response to the evolving and increasingly complex HPC ecosystem, more recent meetings have discussed a range of HPC-related topics, such as massive data analysis, AI, and quantum computing. Continuing the series heritage – and looking ahead – Saint-Girons V will seek to cover a broad range of topics, and we expect it will expose innovative research and motive collaborations, in an idyllic setting.