Very small quantum fluctuations in the first 10^-30th of a second in the universe seeded small density inhomogeneities. These inhomogeneities grew with time, eventually becoming the galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and super-clusters that are observed in the local universe. FAS scientists are using state-of-the-art numerical simulations to understand the details of this process.

It is very important to simultaneously resolve the very large volumes of the Universe to get a representative sample and also resolve galaxy scale fluctuations. This large dynamic range places very large memory requirements for simulating this phenomenon. FAS research computing resources are designed to allow these cutting edge simulations to run.

Faculty: Prof. L. Hernquist