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Using the GRAPE Interface
A GRAPE is a special-purpose supercomputer designed to perform
astrophysical calculations of self-gravitating systems at speeds
greatly exceeding those of conventional general-purpose
supercomputers. Since the first GRAPE was built, by a small group of
astrophysicists at Tokyo University in 1989, a dozen different
versions have appeared. In 1995 and 1996, the GRAPE-4 was recognized
as the fastest computer in the world, with a speed of 1 Tflops. The
GRAPE-6, completed in the 2000, has demonstrated sustained speeds
exceeding 30 Tflops.
For a full description of current and planned GRAPE systems, see
the GRAPE Web page, or
look on Jun Makino's home page.
A recent article on the GRAPE project in the popular science magazine
Discover 18, No. 6, 76-83 (1997) may be found here.
Starlab is designed to make full use of the GRAPE series of
special-purpose computers. As of version 4.0, GRAPE is used by
default if detected at run time. To disable it, use the "-0" option.
For details on configuring the package for GRAPE use, see the installation section.