December 13, 2011
MAKE THAT THE SECOND LARGEST:
Largest-Ever Simulation of the Universe Revealed (Physics arXiv Blog, 12/12/2011)Back in 1970, Jim Peebles at Princeton University carried out a ground-breaking experiment. He used the new-fangled technology of computing to simulate the behaviour of a cluster of galaxies under the force of gravity.
This simulation was tiny by modern standards: it involved just 300 'particles'. But it showed that computer models could give an important insight into the formation of structures on a grand scale. It's fair to say that this and other early simulations revolutionised cosmology.
Today, Juhan Kim at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study in Seoul, and a few pals, show just how far this technique has come. These guys have carried out the largest simulation of the universe ever undertaken, consisting of 374 billion particles in a box some 10 gigaparsecs across. That's roughly equivalent to about two thirds the size of the observable universe.
Posted by Orrin Judd at December 13, 2011 6:00 AM
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