The Universe in a Box: Modeling Galaxies and the Cosmic Web

 Brian O’Shea

Department of Physics & Astronomy

 Michigan State University

 

 (Refreshments at 3:00pm)

ABSTRACT:   Galaxies are the building blocks of the universe.  Understanding their formation, evolution, and appearance is important to answering fundamental questions about our origins, the universe we live in, and our future.  Since it is impossible to build a galaxy in the laboratory, we must use computers to model these objects.  However, galaxies are complex systems whose behavior relies on a wide range of physical processes operating over a large range of spatial and temporal scales, which presents challenges to the thoughtful astrophysicist.  In this talk, I will discuss the tools and techniques used to model galaxies, and will also present the results of my research group's recent efforts to understand these fascinating objects.  Results from our group's scientific visualization efforts will be shown as well.