Eris (simulation)
Encyclopedia
Eris is a computer simulation of the Milky Way
galaxy's physics. It was done by astrophysicists from the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich
, Switzerland and University of California, Santa Cruz
. The simulation project was undertaken at the NASA Advanced Supercomputer Division’s Pleiades and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
for nearly eight months, which would have otherwise taken 570 years in personal computer
s. The Eris simulation is the first successful detailed simulation of a Milky Way like galaxy.
have been undertaken for the past 20 years. All of these projects had failed as the simulation results showed central bulges which are huge compared to the disk size.
s which include the Pleiades supercomputer
, the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
and the supercomputers at the University of California, Santa Cruz
. The simulation used 1.4 million processor-hours of the Pleiades supercomputer.
It is based on the theory that in the early universe, cold and slow moving dark matter particles clumped together. These dark matter clumps then formed the "scaffolding" around galaxies and galactic clusters. The motions of more than 60 million particles which represented dark matter and galactic gas were simulated for a period of 13 billion years. The software platform, Gasoline, was used for the simulation. The Eris simulation is the first successful simulation to have resolved the high-density gas clouds where stars formed.
galaxy. Some of the parameters which were similar to Milky Way are stellar content, gas content, kinematic decomposition, brightness profile and the bulge-to-disk ratio.
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy's physics. It was done by astrophysicists from the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
, Switzerland and University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
. The simulation project was undertaken at the NASA Advanced Supercomputer Division’s Pleiades and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre develops and supports technical computing for the Swiss scientific research community. It provides high-performance computing infrastructure that enables world-class simulation-based science....
for nearly eight months, which would have otherwise taken 570 years in personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s. The Eris simulation is the first successful detailed simulation of a Milky Way like galaxy.
Background
Simulation projects intending to simulate spiral galaxiesSpiral galaxy
A spiral galaxy is a certain kind of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence. Spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as...
have been undertaken for the past 20 years. All of these projects had failed as the simulation results showed central bulges which are huge compared to the disk size.
Simulation
The simulation was undertaken using supercomputerSupercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
s which include the Pleiades supercomputer
Pleiades (supercomputer)
Pleiades is a petascale supercomputer built by SGI at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. , it was the world's seventh fastest computer with a peak performance of more than 970 teraflops. After further extensions, Pleiades is scheduled to reach 10 petaflops in 2012.-See...
, the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre develops and supports technical computing for the Swiss scientific research community. It provides high-performance computing infrastructure that enables world-class simulation-based science....
and the supercomputers at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
. The simulation used 1.4 million processor-hours of the Pleiades supercomputer.
It is based on the theory that in the early universe, cold and slow moving dark matter particles clumped together. These dark matter clumps then formed the "scaffolding" around galaxies and galactic clusters. The motions of more than 60 million particles which represented dark matter and galactic gas were simulated for a period of 13 billion years. The software platform, Gasoline, was used for the simulation. The Eris simulation is the first successful simulation to have resolved the high-density gas clouds where stars formed.
Simulation results
The simulation result consisted of a galaxy which is very similar to the Milky WayMilky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy. Some of the parameters which were similar to Milky Way are stellar content, gas content, kinematic decomposition, brightness profile and the bulge-to-disk ratio.