Optimization Report — lammps-tip4p

Note

The optimized code summarized in this report was generated by the FermiLink AI agent. Review and validate the code changes yourself before using the modified code in scientific or production work. This optimization reporting feature is experimental and is not a final, mature solution.

Primary metric: Weighted median pair plus kspace time (s) (lower is better).

Goal

Copied source goal for this optimization: goal.md

# Optimization Goal

## Package
lammps

## Language
cpp

## Target
Optimize the TIP4P long-range water NVE workflow in LAMMPS, with primary focus on algorithm-level improvements inside `lj/cut/tip4p/long` and `pppm/tip4p`.

The relevant hot paths in the local LAMMPS source tree are `src/KSPACE/pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long.cpp` and `src/KSPACE/pppm_tip4p.cpp`. Important repeated work includes TIP4P M-site construction during pair traversal, TIP4P-specific charge mapping, rho accumulation, and electric-field interpolation inside the PPPM solve.

Primary optimization interest is reducing the combined pair-plus-kspace cost for fixed-size water systems while preserving the same physical model, long-range accuracy, timestep, and stable NVE behavior.

This goal assumes benchmark generation will use the attached input artifacts by filename (`water_216_data.lmp`, `in.tip4p_nve`, and `in.tip4p_nve_long`) and resolve them from the staged goal input root.

## Editable Scope
- src/KSPACE/pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long.cpp
- src/KSPACE/pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long.h
- src/KSPACE/pppm_tip4p.cpp
- src/KSPACE/pppm_tip4p.h

## Performance Metric
Minimize weighted median `pair_seconds + kspace_seconds` across all benchmark cases.

Benchmark should also record `loop_seconds`, `pair_seconds`, `kspace_seconds`, `neigh_seconds`, `comm_seconds`, and normalized throughput (for example, steps/second or ns/day). Secondary objective should be lower `loop_seconds` without winning only through communication-side artifacts.

## Correctness Constraints
- Preserve NVE energy behavior: total energy drift per atom per step over the longer runs must stay within benchmark tolerance versus incumbent baseline.
- Preserve sampled thermo observables at matched output steps: `etotal`, `pe`, `ke`, `temp`, `press`, and `density` must stay within benchmark tolerance.
- Preserve sampled force consistency for representative frames: RMS and max absolute force-component deltas must stay within benchmark tolerance.
- Preserve trajectory invariants for identical initial state and deterministic seed: same atom count, stable completion, no lost atoms, and no NaN/Inf.
- Do not change physical model semantics or runtime controls to gain speed: keep `pair_style lj/cut/tip4p/long`, `kspace_style pppm/tip4p 0.0001`, `neighbor 2.0 bin`, `timestep 0.5`, units, bonded terms, and TIP4P geometry assumptions unchanged.
- Do not weaken long-range accuracy, neighbor rebuild safety, or Newton/communication semantics to gain speed.
- All benchmark cases must complete successfully with deterministic runner settings.

## Representative Workloads
- train-16r-short: `in.tip4p_nve` + `water_216_data.lmp` on 16 MPI ranks (216 waters replicated by `4x4x4` inside the input; short run) so pair plus PPPM work dominates more strongly than communication.
- train-32r-short: `in.tip4p_nve` + `water_216_data.lmp` on 32 MPI ranks to keep the optimization useful across a second domain decomposition.
- train-16r-long: `in.tip4p_nve_long` + `water_216_data.lmp` on 16 MPI ranks for a longer-horizon NVE drift and timer-stability case.
- test-32r-long: `in.tip4p_nve_long` + `water_216_data.lmp` on 32 MPI ranks as a held-out moderate-decomposition case.
- test-64r-short: `in.tip4p_nve` + `water_216_data.lmp` on 64 MPI ranks as a held-out scaling-sensitive case; this case should not define the primary optimization direction.

## Build
```bash
mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake -C ../cmake/presets/most.cmake -C ../cmake/presets/nolib.cmake -D PKG_GPU=off ../cmake
cmake --build . -j4
```

## Notes
- Treat the attached LAMMPS input file(s) as the source of truth for runtime settings and any include-chain files.
- This campaign is intended to find algorithm-level improvements inside the named TIP4P pair and PPPM kernels, not generic communication or integrator tuning.
- Keep benchmark execution deterministic: fixed thread settings, fixed random seeds (if any), and explicit launch command.
- Run LAMMPS with full timer output so the benchmark runner can parse `Pair`, `Kspace`, `Neigh`, `Comm`, and total loop timings from the standard timing table.
- In generated benchmark YAML, include `runtime.pre_commands` derived from the build section so authoritative runs rebuild the edited LAMMPS binary before benchmarking.
- In generated benchmark runtime command, invoke LAMMPS via MPI launcher with the case-specific rank count (16, 32, or 64), not one fixed rank count for every case.
- Set `OMP_NUM_THREADS=1` unless a case explicitly requires hybrid MPI+OpenMP, and keep this setting identical across baseline/candidate runs.
- In generated benchmark YAML, include a split block so worker sees the train cases only:
  ```yaml
  split:
    train_case_ids:
      - train-16r-short
      - train-32r-short
      - train-16r-long
  ```

Summary

Optimization Trajectory

metric vs iteration running incumbent

All iterations

iter

commit

status

metric

summary

0

e7c0ed95a333

baseline

94.717

baseline

1

0157b0571dbb

rejected

94.369

Cache PPPM TIP4P virtual-site reconstruction and H-index lookup once per local oxygen per compute…

2

2bbd33a175f2

correctness_failure

82.844

Backport the serial OPT hot loop into base lj/cut/tip4p/long so the benchmarked pair kernel uses …

3

3a45586c8afa

accepted

81.885

Specialize `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` with compile-time energy/virial/table dispatch, a shared TIP4…

4

847eb8e5dd4b

rejected

81.985

Cache local PPPM TIP4P M-site reconstruction and 1D rho stencils in particle_map() so make_rho(),…

5

42d987d04a9c

rejected

81.298

Skip the extended TIP4P Coulomb precheck for exact non-oxygen/non-oxygen pairs in `pair_lj_cut_ti…

6

89aa52c5901e

correctness_failure

79.639

Specialize `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` for the benchmark’s global-only tally path, fast-path exact n…

7

c37498ebee61

rejected

81.445

Keep the exact H-H Coulomb cutoff fast path in `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long`, and reuse the first oxyg…

8

7d859a5521df

rejected

85.841

Specialize `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` Coulomb handling by interaction class (`O-O`, `O-H`, `H-O`, a…

9

0356a6e5d35a

rejected

80.674

Tighten `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` Coulomb prechecks only for exact `H-H` and actual-current-step `…

10

25819367f233

rejected

80.914

Tighten exact oxygen-i/non-oxygen-j pair Coulomb prechecks in `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` and reuse …

11

2a0b902a8b5a

accepted

79.88

Tighten exact oxygen-to-nonoxygen Coulomb prechecks and add a dedicated water-H `i` fast path in …

12

4f3910700624

rejected

82.549

Prune impossible hydrogen-neighbor LJ work and reuse cached oxygen M-sites to tighten reverse non…

13

c467f241b716

rejected

78.33

Skip dead water-H LJ work in `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` and cache PPPM TIP4P oxygen `find_M()` / H-…

14

b11c640621e4

rejected

78.535

Skip dead hydrogen-neighbor LJ work in `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` and replace the heavier PPPM full…

15

48e378f90ae8

rejected

79.58

Add an IK-only PPPM TIP4P oxygen cache that stores per-step H indices, lower-left grid deltas, an…

16

ab55ea3e8508

accepted

78.12

Restore safe hydrogen-neighbor LJ pruning in `pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long` and reuse cached TIP4P oxyg…

17

ad7811dc14f3

rejected

77.512

Generation-stamped TIP4P pair/PPPM caches plus a common non-special pair fast path and cross-step…

18

b87604e6465e

rejected

77.755

Pair-only TIP4P optimization: replace the per-step `hneigh[][2]` reset with generation-stamped ca…

19

1478ab81846a

correctness_failure

78.069

Buffer hydrogen-i Coulomb force accumulation in pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long and flush once after the n…

20

57da41d1ad04

rejected

78.045

Cache all-charge PPPM/TIP4P IK rho stencils and base brick indices in make_rho() and reuse them i…

21

2599e1f9f4c8

accepted

76.248

Use contiguous alias-friendly x/f/part2grid views in pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long and TIP4P PPPM partic…

22

22ab6a7a53b5

rejected

76.144

Reuse the pair style’s current-step TIP4P O/H/M cache inside PPPM with a timestep guard and ortho…

23

bd8ee0840992

rejected

75.536

Merge the correctness-clean pair-only generation-stamped TIP4P site cache and common non-special-…

24

a4391bb48f95

rejected

79.984

Specialize TIP4P PPPM order-5 make_rho()/fieldforce_ik() stencil kernels with a generic fallback

25

757c16f42b32

rejected

75.36

Pure-water `lj/cut/tip4p/long` pair fast path plus generation-stamped TIP4P M-site reuse and comm…

26

4cbc0fa85603

accepted

72.919

Contiguous generation-stamped TIP4P pair/PPPM caches plus a pure-water lj/cut/tip4p/long pair fas…

27

5840dac0d9f1

accepted

70.984

Inline TIP4P pair/PPPM cache-hit fast paths while keeping cache-miss reconstruction in dedicated …

28

aaa3d5fa36f1

rejected

71.085

Streamline PPPMTIP4P by removing the unconditional particle_map() allreduce and specializing the …

29

b9d56dcc532a

rejected

70.525

Use typed alias-friendly cached TIP4P M-site views in pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long and pppm_tip4p while…

30

b028e7ec4bbc

correctness_failure

71.716

Cache per-step TIP4P O->M deltas/reach in pair_lj_cut_tip4p_long and reuse them to form exact oxy…

31

9eb54352a2e0

rejected

71.282

Precompute map-resolvable TIP4P oxygen M-sites before the pair loop and read the prepared cache d…

32

8bfdf92c40a5

rejected

70.124

Defer cached TIP4P hydrogen-index loads until exact oxygen interactions pass the final Coulomb cu…

33

ff67ca3c0752

rejected

72.294

Defer TIP4P pair hydrogen-index loads until exact oxygen-cutoff hits, add a common nonspecial Cou…

34

625e91025a03

rejected

70.877

Split TIP4P pair/PPPM caches into compact M-site coordinate arrays plus separate H-index/stamp st…

35

44b554c8a168

rejected

70.511

Defer pair-side TIP4P hydrogen-index and Coulomb-special loads until exact oxygen-path survivors,…

36

d6aa774723cb

rejected

70.737

Use the lazy TIP4P pair/PPPM cache-access shape with an xM-only PPPM particle_map accessor, and h…

37

e04c1aedddd3

rejected

70.108

Compose typed alias-friendly TIP4P cached M-site coordinates with lazy pair-side hydrogen-index u…

38

095bee6d96dc

rejected

71.763

Lazy TIP4P xM-only cache access plus pair hydrogen-index deferral and PPPM stencil-base reuse

39

7c4d21219695

rejected

71.327

Split TIP4P pair/PPPM cache hits into xM-only versus hydrogen-index reads, and memoize the pair-s…

Accepted Commits

Accepted candidate detail pages and current manual-review status:

accepted commit

Human verification

3a45586c8afa

not verified

2a0b902a8b5a

not verified

ab55ea3e8508

not verified

2599e1f9f4c8

not verified

4cbc0fa85603

not verified

5840dac0d9f1

not verified

Benchmark Contracts

Necessary files to reproduce the FermiLink optimization results:

Input files for Benchmarks

Copied auxiliary benchmark inputs from .fermilink-optimize/inputs/all/:

Runtime Data

FermiLink runtime data for accepted/rejected commits.

Rerun Guide

Agent provider codex; model gpt-5.4-xhigh

Use the bundled contract files from this report to recreate the optimization against a fresh upstream checkout.

  • default upstream clone: git@github.com:skilled-scipkg/lammps.git

  • confirm the upstream default branch before creating the worktree: develop on GitHub

  • detected package language: cpp; use fermilink-optimize-cpp for goal-mode reruns

  • if goal_inputs.json is present, restage the listed auxiliary workload files before rerunning

  • copied benchmark input files are bundled under inputs/all/ and should be restored into .fermilink-optimize/inputs/all/ for deterministic reruns

git clone git@github.com:skilled-scipkg/lammps.git
cd lammps
git worktree add -b fermilink-optimize/lammps-<modified-feature> ../lammps-<modified-feature> develop

Path 1: Rerun from goal.md

Rerun from the bundled goal.md.

Note

Tune the copied ## Build section in goal.md before rerunning. Update environment activation, module loads, compiler paths, install prefixes, and other machine-specific setup so FermiLink builds the package correctly.

mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake -C ../cmake/presets/most.cmake -C ../cmake/presets/nolib.cmake -D PKG_GPU=off ../cmake
cmake --build . -j4

Note

The copied ## Representative Workloads section references input files that are also bundled under Input files for Benchmarks. Copy these files into the same directory as the goal.md file used for this rerun before launching FermiLink, so goal mode can capture and stage them:

Run this from the cloned main repo so the launcher can create or reuse the sibling worktree:

fermilink-optimize-cpp \
  --project-root "$PWD" \
  --goal /path/to/report/contract/goal.md \
  --branch fermilink-optimize/lammps-<modified-feature> \
  --worktree-root .. \
  --worktree-name lammps-<modified-feature>

Path 2: More deterministic rerun from benchmark.yaml

Rerun from the copied benchmark.yaml and benchmark_runner.py. These files are generated from goal.md by FermiLink, serving as a deterministic benchmark contract that the agent needs to follow during optimization iterations. FermiLink does not directly rely on goal.md for optimization iterations.

This avoids regenerating the benchmark contract from goal.md before the campaign starts:

Note

Inspect benchmark.yaml before rerunning. Update runtime.pre_commands for machine-specific build/setup steps, and verify that runtime.command paths point at files that exist in the new worktree.

cd ../lammps-<modified-feature>
mkdir -p .fermilink-optimize/autogen .fermilink-optimize/inputs/all
cp /path/to/report/contract/benchmark.yaml .fermilink-optimize/autogen/benchmark.yaml
cp /path/to/report/contract/benchmark_runner.py .fermilink-optimize/autogen/benchmark_runner.py
cp -R /path/to/report/inputs/all/. .fermilink-optimize/inputs/all/
printf '%s\n' '.fermilink-optimize/' >> .git/info/exclude
fermilink optimize lammps "$PWD" \
  --benchmark "$PWD/.fermilink-optimize/autogen/benchmark.yaml" \
  --skills-source existing

Benchmark Examples

Worker iterations run the train-* benchmark cases below while searching for candidate changes:

cases:
  - id: train-16r-short
    weight: 1.0
    input_script: in.tip4p_nve
    data_file: water_216_data.lmp
    mpi_ranks: 16
    omp_num_threads: 1
    expected_atoms: 41472
    run_steps: 1200
    thermo_every: 100
    timer_mode: full
    timestep: 0.5
    pair_style: lj/cut/tip4p/long 1 2 1 1 0.278072379 17.007
    kspace_style: pppm/tip4p 0.0001
    neighbor: 2.0 bin
    pppm_diff_mode: ik
    replicate:
      - 4
      - 4
      - 4
  - id: train-32r-short
    weight: 1.0
    input_script: in.tip4p_nve
    data_file: water_216_data.lmp
    mpi_ranks: 32
    omp_num_threads: 1
    expected_atoms: 41472
    run_steps: 1200
    thermo_every: 100
    timer_mode: full
    timestep: 0.5
    pair_style: lj/cut/tip4p/long 1 2 1 1 0.278072379 17.007
    kspace_style: pppm/tip4p 0.0001
    neighbor: 2.0 bin
    pppm_diff_mode: ik
    replicate:
      - 4
      - 4
      - 4
  - id: train-16r-long
    weight: 1.0
    input_script: in.tip4p_nve_long
    data_file: water_216_data.lmp
    mpi_ranks: 16
    omp_num_threads: 1
    expected_atoms: 41472
    run_steps: 10000
    thermo_every: 100
    timer_mode: full
    timestep: 0.5
    pair_style: lj/cut/tip4p/long 1 2 1 1 0.278072379 17.007
    kspace_style: pppm/tip4p 0.0001
    neighbor: 2.0 bin
    pppm_diff_mode: ik
    replicate:
      - 4
      - 4
      - 4

Controller reviews run the test-* benchmark cases below to validate accepted candidates:

cases:
  - id: test-32r-long
    weight: 0.5
    input_script: in.tip4p_nve_long
    data_file: water_216_data.lmp
    mpi_ranks: 32
    omp_num_threads: 1
    expected_atoms: 41472
    run_steps: 10000
    thermo_every: 100
    timer_mode: full
    timestep: 0.5
    pair_style: lj/cut/tip4p/long 1 2 1 1 0.278072379 17.007
    kspace_style: pppm/tip4p 0.0001
    neighbor: 2.0 bin
    pppm_diff_mode: ik
    replicate:
      - 4
      - 4
      - 4
  - id: test-64r-short
    weight: 0.25
    input_script: in.tip4p_nve
    data_file: water_216_data.lmp
    mpi_ranks: 64
    omp_num_threads: 1
    expected_atoms: 41472
    run_steps: 1200
    thermo_every: 100
    timer_mode: full
    timestep: 0.5
    pair_style: lj/cut/tip4p/long 1 2 1 1 0.278072379 17.007
    kspace_style: pppm/tip4p 0.0001
    neighbor: 2.0 bin
    pppm_diff_mode: ik
    replicate:
      - 4
      - 4
      - 4