ASTROPHYSICS

Hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation have now reached sufficient physical fidelity to allow detailed predictions for their formation and evolution over cosmic time. The aim of this project is to carry out a new generation of structure formation simulations, IllustrisTNG, that reach sufficient volume to make accurate predictions for clustering on cosmologically relevant scales, while at the same time being able to compute detailed galaxy morphologies, the enrichment of diffuse gas with metals, and the amplification of magnetic fields during structure growth.

An international team of scientists at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), MIT, Harvard University and the University of Cambridge has carried out the “Illustris Simulation” on the SuperMUC and CURIE supercomputers, and created the largest and most sophisticated computational model of cosmic structure formation thus far.