exascale computing

The term exascale computing is used for computing on the scale of exaFLOPs, i.e., a quintillion FLOPs, or 10¹⁸ floating point arithmetic operations performed per second, specifically the ability to dedicate such a capability to a single task, model, simulation, or calculation, useful in future scientific analysis as well as engineering efforts. The capability will make three dimensional models practical in more areas of scientific analysis, including core collapse supernova models and other astrophysical phenomena. Larger, technically-capable countries are hosting multi-year projects aimed at achieving the capability within the early 2020s. In 2022, one computer (Frontier) demonstrated the capability and as of early 2023, no other computer has achieved it and the next fastest computers have achieved on the order of a third of an exaFLOP.