Pion: A Problem Solving Environment for Parallel Multivariate Integration

Abstract

ParInt is a package for parallel multivariate numerical integration. This paper describes the design and implementation of a problem solving environment based on ParInt and Web technology. We call it ParInt ONline (Pion). It facilitates both common end-users and experts to solve computationally intensive numerical integration in parallel. No parallel programming experience or any knowledge of Unix/Linux operating systems is needed for the users. When the user submits an integration problem to Pion via a Web browser, the problem solving environment will compile the integrand function and link it dynamically with the ParInt package so that the execution can be done in parallel on high performance computing servers. The system was designed to be a globally accessible integration platform that operates as a black box, taking user data and producing the results.