Observing Virtual Universes

该项目将通过提供对千禧年数据库的访问，使美国的研究天文学社区和普通公众受益。千禧年数据库是世界上最重要和最广泛使用的模拟，到目前为止，它完全是欧洲的努力，在德国发布和维护，在其他地方基本上无法访问。一旦建立，其他模拟数据集将在稍后提供，提供一个具有巨大价值的资源，能够对美国科学家产生有意义的影响。即将建立的虚拟数字实验室代表着广泛适用于许多科学和教育领域的技术解决方案。对可观测宇宙的统计代表性部分进行建模的大动态范围的宇宙计算机模拟是探索宇宙结构的关键组成部分，特别是星系是如何形成的，它们在空间中是如何分布的，以及环境如何影响它们的演化。这种模拟产生的数据集的大小和丰富性已经开始超过最大规模的观测调查的结果，这使得支持所需复杂算法的计算和存储资源变得紧张。这一点尤其正确，因为许多分析将由没有参与原始工作的科学家执行，他们可能不熟悉模拟输出的属性。该项目将允许访问原始模拟，同时扩展和完成可直接与望远镜数据进行比较的合成观测的创建。该系统将允许专家和非专家调查模拟创建的虚拟宇宙，并将它们与观测相匹配，方法是形成一个虚拟天文台，可以访问从原始输出到理想化中间产品再到现实模型观测的一切。用户可以研究引力崩塌的一些方面，如比例关系和不同的集群模式，并研究系统偏差和信息损失。其目的是使每个人都能对模拟数据进行目前只能由专业人员完成的那种科学实验。这项研究将产生的广泛适用的技术解决方案将把原始的PB大小的模拟输出文件绑定到结构化的关系数据库，直接应用从湍流和基因组学到多样化。对于理论和模拟必须由非专业人员解释的任何领域，观测领域的正演模拟都将受益。该项目将使约翰·霍普金斯大学集团成为欧洲处女座联盟的核心美国合作伙伴，并进一步在美国建立一个公共模拟数据库。

This project will benefit both the research astronomy community and the general public in the US by providing access to the Millennium Database, the most important and widely used simulation worldwide, which has so far been a fully European effort, published and maintained in Germany, and largely inaccessible elsewhere. Once established, other simulation datasets will later be made available, providing a resource of tremendous value, capable of making a meaningful difference to US scientists. The virtual numerical laboratory that will be created represents technical solutions widely applicable to many areas of scientific and educational endeavor.Cosmological computer simulations with large dynamic range that model statistically representative parts of the observable universe are an essential component of the quest to understand the structure of the universe, and in particular how galaxies form, how they are distributed in space, and how environment influences their evolution. The data sets produced by such simulations have started to exceed in size and richness the results of the largest observational surveys, straining the computational and storage resources that support the required complex algorithms. This is especially true because much of the analysis will be performed by scientists who were not involved in the original work and may be unfamiliar with the properties of the simulation outputs. This project will allow access to the original simulations, and simultaneously extend and complete the creation of synthetic observations that can be directly compared to telescope data. The system will allow experts and non-experts to investigate the virtual universes created by simulations and match them to observation, by forming a virtual observatory with access to everything from raw outputs, through idealized intermediate products, to realistic model observations. Users can investigate such aspects of gravitational collapse as scaling relations and distinct clustering patterns, and study systematic biases and information loss. The objective is to enable everyone to perform the sort of scientific experiments on simulation data that can currently only be done by specialists.The broadly usable technical solutions that will be created by this study will tie raw Petabyte size simulation output files to structured relational databases, with direct applications as diverse as turbulence and genomics. Forward modelling to the observational domain will benefit any area where theory and simulation must be interpreted by non-specialists. The project will establish the Johns Hopkins group as a core US partner in the European Virgo Consortium, and further establish a public simulation database effort in the US.