Vorton dynamics: a case study of developing a fluid dynamics model for a vector processor

The raw performance of vector processors such as the CDC CYBER-205 has been well documented. The ability to apply this raw power to ever more complex algebraic algorithms has been reported in [9]. The final step in making computers of this class truly the revolutionary tools they are claimed to be is to develop whole applications that perform at a significant fraction of the raw power. This involves two distinct subclasses of problems. On the one hand, there are those pre-existing applications that must be mapped onto vector processors in such a way that not only is performance maintained, but also a (sometimes vague) set of computational boundary conditions of the user community is satisfied. On the other hand, there are those models which are developed ab initio with machines such as the CYBER-205 in mind. The development of solutions to problems in the former class involves psychology and politics as well as mathematics and computer science. We limit ourselves here to reporting on an example of the latter class, viz. a model to study a particular fluid-dynamic phenomenon, that was specifically designed with the CYBER-205 in mind.