asQ: parallel-in-time finite element simulations using ParaDiag for geoscientific models and beyond

Modern high-performance computers are massively parallel; for many partial differential equation applications spatial parallelism saturates long before the computer’s capability is reached. Parallel-in-time methods enable further speedup beyond spatial saturation by solving multiple time steps simultaneously to expose additional parallelism. ParaDiag is a particular approach to parallel-in-time methods based on preconditioning the simultaneous time step system with a perturbation that allows block diagonalisation via a Fourier transform in time. In this article, we introduce asQ, a new library for implementing ParaDiag parallel-in-time methods, with a focus on applications in the geosciences, especially weather and climate. asQ is built on Firedrake, a library for the automated solution of finite element models, and the PETSc library of scalable linear and nonlinear solvers. This enables asQ to build ParaDiag solvers for general finite element models and provide a range of solution strategies, making testing a wide array of problems straightforward. We use a quasi-Newton formulation that encompasses a range of ParaDiag methods and expose building blocks for constructing more complex methods. The performance and flexibility of asQ is demonstrated on a hierarchy of linear and nonlinear atmospheric flow models. We show that ParaDiag can offer promising speedups and that asQ is a productive testbed for further developing these methods.