Probing the Fossils of the Local Group using Petascale Adaptive Mesh Galaxy Simulations

该项目的目标是在Blue沃茨超级计算机上进行大规模数值模拟，从而在星系形成方面取得根本性突破。这些模拟将解析星系的最小组成部分及其星星形成历史，从而可以直接测量数值计算的结果。所包含的物理学的复杂性将导致创建丰富的数据集，解决许多关键问题有关的星星形成的历史，化学演化，早期星系组装，星系的可观察的属性。此外，在该项目过程中产生的模拟数据，以及广泛的其他数据产品，将公开提供给更广泛的天体物理界使用。该项目将回答几个紧迫的，关于低质量和贫金属星系的观测动机的问题，通过使用蓝色沃茨超级计算机执行一套复杂的，宇宙结构形成的高动态范围自适应网格模拟。这些模拟将非常详细地探索本星系群的早期历史，并将这些早期星系中最大的星系与它们的遗迹直接联系起来，这些遗迹可以在今天的本星系群矮星系中找到。 该项目将解决有关星系形成的四个具体问题：1。在最早期控制星系形成的关键物理机制是什么？它们与后来形成的较大星系有何不同？2.如果超大质量黑洞的种子是从第一代恒星形成的，那么它们是如何在宇宙演化的第一个十亿年中成长的呢？3.本星系群中早期星系形成的残余物有什么物理特征，这些星系的恒星群保留了关于它们形成的什么信息？4.最早期的星系，在高红移和现在，有什么独特的观测特征？该团队包括星系形成和高性能计算方面的专家，以及使用复杂的数值工具，特别是恩佐代码。 恩佐代码已被证明可在蓝色沃茨超级计算机上扩展和运行良好。该项目将应用模拟的本地和遥远的星系从目前的天文调查的测量结果的解释，并激励未来的观测campaigns.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The goal of this project is to unlock fundamental breakthroughs in galaxy formation with large-scale numerical simulations on the Blue Waters supercomputer. These simulations will resolve the smallest building blocks of galaxies and their star formation histories, allowing for direct measurements of the consequences of the numerical calculations. The complexity of the included physics will lead to the creation of rich data sets that address many key issues relating to star formation histories, chemical evolution, early galaxy assembly, and the observable properties of galaxies. Furthermore, the simulation data produced during the course of this project, as well as a wide range of other data products, will be made publicly available for use by the broader astrophysical community.The project will answer several pressing, observational motivated questions about low-mass and metal-poor galaxies by using the Blue Waters supercomputer to perform a suite of sophisticated, high dynamic range adaptive mesh simulations of cosmological structure formation. These simulations will probe the early history of the Local Group of galaxies in great detail, and will directly connect the largest of these early galaxies to their relics, which can be found among the present-day Local Group dwarf galaxies. The project will address four specific questions about galaxy formation: 1. What are the key physical mechanisms that control galaxy formation at the earliest epochs, and how do they differ from the ones in larger galaxies forming at later times? 2. If the seeds of supermassive black holes form from the first generation of stars, how do they grow over the first billion years of cosmic evolution? 3. What are the physical characteristics of the remnants of early galaxy formation in the Local Group, and what information about their formation is retained by the stellar populations of those galaxies? 4. What are the unique observational signatures of the earliest galaxies, both at high redshift and the present day? The team contains experts in galaxy formation and high performance computing, as well as the use of a sophisticated numerical tool, specifically the Enzo code. The Enzo code that has been demonstrated to scale and perform well on the Blue Waters supercomputer. The project will apply the simulations to the interpretation of measurements of both local and distant galaxies from current astronomical surveys, and to motivate future observational campaigns.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.