The Universe’s Largest Scientific Simulation Could Tell Us How It All Began

A origin of life and the destiny of humanity in the cosmos are two unknowns that are intertwined by the very meaning of our existence.

Humanity, despite being aware of the abundant existence of planets, galaxies, black holes and stars that populate the vast cosmos, is still faced with limited knowledge about the immensity of the universe.

Given this scenario, a promise of clarification emerges through an innovative approach: the Flamingo project.

This project, whose abbreviation in English means “hydroelectric simulations of large-scale structures with sky mapping for the interpretation of next-generation observations”, is driven by large-scale computational power, capable of simulating billions of elements of the universe.

Find out more about the Flamingo project

Source: FLAMINGO Team/Virgo Consortium

Behind the scenes, one of the most impressive simulations underway involves more than 300 billion particles, with a mass equivalent to that of a small galaxy, arranged in a cubic volume with edges that extend 10 billion light years.

These magnitudes, practically unfathomable to the human mind, represent an unprecedented milestone for science, promising to unravel mysteries about the origin of our universe.

The results of these researches were detailed in three separate articles: the first describes the method, the second exposes the simulations and the third presents discoveries about the structure of the universe in cold dark matter.

Within the scope of the investigations, the concept of Voltage S8used as one of the parameters of the third article.

This measurement, adopted by astronomers to assess the degree of agglomeration of matter in the universe, is measured using microradiations, allowing understanding of the distant cosmos.

The ability to map vast distances contributes to obtaining information about the past of the universe. Additionally, the value of S8 can be determined by standard simulations of cosmology.

When there are discrepancies between measurements and theoretical representations, the so-called S8 voltage arises.

These measurements play a crucial role in understanding the impact of dark and common matter on the universe, including its arrangement and influence on gravity, a topic of great debate in the current scientific community.

“Although dark matter dominates gravity, the influence of ordinary matter can no longer be neglected, as this contribution can be similar to the deviations between models and observations,” said Joop Schaye, research leader and astronomer at the University of Leiden.

The next stages of this simulation have the potential to uncover the movements and arrangement of matter in distant regions, enabling the revelation of answers about our past.