LANS Informal Seminar: Joe Bernstein

Seminar Title: Intrepid Astrophysics and Cosmology Simulations
Speaker: Joe Bernstein, Computational Postdoctoral Fellow (HEP & ALCF)

Date/Time: 2010-06-23 15:00
Location: Bldg 240 Conference Center 1404-1405

Description:
In the late 1990’s, astrophysics made the shocking discovery that the
expansion rate of the Universe is increasing with time. ‘Dark energy,’
which experiences gravity as a repulsive force, is thought to explain this
cosmic acceleration. Several independent observational methods provide
evidence pointing to the conclusion that 95% of the current energy density
of the Universe exists in the form of the ‘dark sector’ that is different
from normal, i.e., ‘baryonic,’ matter. In particular, the dark sector is
thought to be comprised of 22% ‘dark matter’ that interacts with baryonic
matter ostensibly only through gravity, and 73% dark energy. The evidence
for the dark sector represents one of the greatest mysteries of modern
science in that very little is known about the fundamental nature of the
dark sector components. It is presently an exciting time to be involved in
cosmology because planned astronomical surveys will effectively result in
observational probes of the dark sector becoming systematics-limited,
making numerical simulations crucial to formulating precision cosmological
constraints. Topics to be discussed include 1) an introduction to
cosmology and the dark sector, 2) a overview of the next generation Dark
Energy Survey observational astronomy project, and 3) two high performance
computing simulation efforts aimed at elucidating the dark sector that are
being pursued on the Intrepid supercomputer at Argonne.