Cambridge, MA - Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics (CfA) and their colleagues at the Heidelberg Institute for
Theoretical Studies (HITS) have invented a new computational approach
that can accurately follow the birth and evolution of thousands of
galaxies over billions of years. For the first time it is now possible
to build a universe from scratch that brims with galaxies like we
observe around us.
"We've created the full variety of galaxies we see in the local universe," said Mark Vogelsberger (CfA).
Our cosmic neighborhood is littered with majestic spiral galaxies like
Andromeda, the Pinwheel, and the Whirlpool. Spirals are common, but
previous simulations had trouble creating them. Instead, they produced
lots of blobby galaxies clumped into balls, without the broad disks and
outstretched arms of a typical spiral.
The new software, called
Arepo, solves this problem. Created by Volker Springel (HITS), Arepo
generates a full-fledged simulation of the universe, taking as input
only the observed afterglow of the Big Bang and evolving forward in time
for 14 billion years.
"We took all the advantages of previous codes and removed the disadvantages," explained Springel.
"Our simulations improve over previous ones as much as the Giant
Magellan Telescope will improve upon any telescope that exists now,"
said Debora Sijacki (CfA).
(When completed later this decade,
the Giant Magellan Telescope's 24.5-meter aperture will make it the
largest telescope in the world.)
One of Arepo's key advantages
is the geometry it uses. Previous simulations divided space into a bunch
of cubes of fixed size and shape. Arepo uses a grid that flexes and
moves in space to match the motions of the underlying gas, stars, dark
matter, and dark energy.
The simulations ran on Harvard's
Odyssey high-performance supercomputer, using in total 1024 processor
cores. This fast machine allowed the scientists to compress 14 billion
years into only a few months - an endeavor that would have kept a
desktop computer busy for hundreds of years!
Cambridge, MA - Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and their colleagues at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) have invented a new computational approach that can accurately follow the birth and evolution of thousands of galaxies over billions of years. For the first time it is now possible to build a universe from scratch that brims with galaxies like we observe around us.
"We've created the full variety of galaxies we see in the local universe," said Mark Vogelsberger (CfA).
Our cosmic neighborhood is littered with majestic spiral galaxies like Andromeda, the Pinwheel, and the Whirlpool. Spirals are common, but previous simulations had trouble creating them. Instead, they produced lots of blobby galaxies clumped into balls, without the broad disks and outstretched arms of a typical spiral.
The new software, called Arepo, solves this problem. Created by Volker Springel (HITS), Arepo generates a full-fledged simulation of the universe, taking as input only the observed afterglow of the Big Bang and evolving forward in time for 14 billion years.
"We took all the advantages of previous codes and removed the disadvantages," explained Springel.
"Our simulations improve over previous ones as much as the Giant Magellan Telescope will improve upon any telescope that exists now," said Debora Sijacki (CfA).
(When completed later this decade, the Giant Magellan Telescope's 24.5-meter aperture will make it the largest telescope in the world.)
One of Arepo's key advantages is the geometry it uses. Previous simulations divided space into a bunch of cubes of fixed size and shape. Arepo uses a grid that flexes and moves in space to match the motions of the underlying gas, stars, dark matter, and dark energy.
The simulations ran on Harvard's Odyssey high-performance supercomputer, using in total 1024 processor cores. This fast machine allowed the scientists to compress 14 billion years into only a few months - an endeavor that would have kept a desktop computer busy for hundreds of years!
Our cosmic neighborhood is littered with majestic spiral galaxies like Andromeda, the Pinwheel, and the Whirlpool. Spirals are common, but previous simulations had trouble creating them. Instead, they produced lots of blobby galaxies clumped into balls, without the broad disks and outstretched arms of a typical spiral.
The new software, called Arepo, solves this problem. Created by Volker Springel (HITS), Arepo generates a full-fledged simulation of the universe, taking as input only the observed afterglow of the Big Bang and evolving forward in time for 14 billion years.
"We took all the advantages of previous codes and removed the disadvantages," explained Springel.
"Our simulations improve over previous ones as much as the Giant Magellan Telescope will improve upon any telescope that exists now," said Debora Sijacki (CfA).
(When completed later this decade, the Giant Magellan Telescope's 24.5-meter aperture will make it the largest telescope in the world.)
One of Arepo's key advantages is the geometry it uses. Previous simulations divided space into a bunch of cubes of fixed size and shape. Arepo uses a grid that flexes and moves in space to match the motions of the underlying gas, stars, dark matter, and dark energy.
The simulations ran on Harvard's Odyssey high-performance supercomputer, using in total 1024 processor cores. This fast machine allowed the scientists to compress 14 billion years into only a few months - an endeavor that would have kept a desktop computer busy for hundreds of years!
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