HLRB Project h1091
The Aquarius Project: Cold Dark Matter under a Numerical Microscope
Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics
Proposing Institution
Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics
Project Manager
Dr. Volker Springel
Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1
85740 Garching
Abstract
Our aim is to perform the first ever one-billion particle simulation of a Milky Way-sized dark matter halo, improving resolution by a factor of ~100 relative to previously published simulations of this type and so enabling a dramatic advance in our understanding of the structure and substructure of dark matter in our Galaxy. Our project seeks clues to the nature of the dark matter and will potentially have major impact on fields as diverse as Galactic Astronomy, Cosmology, and Particle Astrophysics. In particular, this simulation will greatly advance strategies: (i) for exploring the formation of our Galaxy; (ii) for searching for signals from dark matter annihilation; and (iii) for designing experiments for direct detection of dark matter. This is an extremely ambitious project feasible only with the unique capabilities of HLRB-II. The large number of fast processors, the large amount of memory, and the extremely fast communication can all be harnessed effectively by our code in a world-leading effort to address science of major professional and public impact.
