Dept Colloquium: Benedikt Diemer, UMD Astronomy

Simulating the entire cosmos: what could possibly go wrong?

Speaker: Benedikt Diemer, UMD Astronomy

Abstract: Over the past two decades, the field of galaxy formation has been revolutionized by the advent of large-volume, cosmological simulations. In theory, such calculations allow for ab-initio predictions of how galaxy formation works and how the resulting galaxy population depends on the nature of dark matter, gravity, and cosmology. In practice, the simulations suffer from low resolution, overly simplistic sub-grid models, imperfect analysis tools, and even numerical issues in the basic underlying physics. In this broad overview, I will show how our group at UMD is addressing these types of issues, but also how we are using cosmological simulations to interpret observational surveys and learn about cluster halos. I will present a program to run our own suite of large cosmological simulations, aimed at learning about the physics of dark matter and gravity.

Host: Dr. Chris Reynolds