Tier II Chair in Astronomy

天文学二级主席

• 批准号: 1000228176-2011
• 负责人: Thacker, Robert
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Saint Mary's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Canada Research Chairs
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=642856
• 关键词: Tier; II; Chair; Astronomy

How do the billions of stars that form a galaxy come together to form the beautiful spiral structures that we see? Over the next decade observations from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission will provide exquisite new observations of stellar motions to help us understand the structure and motion of the Milky Way. At the same time, new simulation models of galactic evolution are necessary to interpret these data. The first part of this research program outlines an ambitious simulation program using parallel computers that will improve mass resolution by a factor of 1000 over typical models used today. This increase in resolution will provide an entirely new level of fidelity in numerical modelling and should contribute to a radical new understanding of the structure and evolution of the Milky Way. The second part of the research program will focus on the precise role of black holes in galaxy formation, and how the enormous energy release associated with the accretion of matter impacts the formation of galaxies. This is a problem that taxes both theoretical and numerical approaches.

形成一个星系的数十亿颗恒星是如何聚集在一起，形成我们所看到的美丽的螺旋结构的？在接下来的十年里，来自欧洲航天局的盖亚任务的观测将提供对恒星运动的精妙的新观测，以帮助我们了解银河系的结构和运动。同时，有必要建立新的星系演化模拟模型来解释这些数据。这项研究计划的第一部分概述了一个雄心勃勃的模拟计划，该计划使用并行计算机，将比目前使用的典型模型提高1000倍的质量分辨率。分辨率的提高将在数值模拟中提供一个全新的保真度水平，并应有助于对银河系的结构和演化有一个全新的理解。研究计划的第二部分将侧重于黑洞在星系形成中的确切作用，以及与物质吸积相关的巨大能量释放如何影响星系的形成。这是一个让理论和数值方法都吃力的问题。