Simulating the Cosmos: Why the Universe Looks the Way It Does

by Romeel Davé

Overview

A behind-the-scenes look at the latest tool in astrophysics: computer simulations of the cosmos.
 
Simulating the Cosmos is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the hottest and fastest-moving areas of astrophysics today: simulations of cosmology and galaxy formation. Leading cosmologist Romeel Davé guides you through the trials and tribulations of what it takes to teach computers how galaxies form, the amazing insights revealed by cosmological simulations, and the many mysteries yet to be solved. This rollicking journey is a rare glimpse into science in action, showing how cosmologists are using supercomputers to uncover the secrets of how the universe came to be.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789147148
Publisher:	Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Series:	Universe
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	1,167,861
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Romeel Davé holds the chair of physics at the University of Edinburgh.
 

Editorial Reviews

05/08/2023

University of Edinburgh cosmologist Davé’s dense debut comes up short in attempting to detail how astronomers use computer simulations to study the cosmos. Delving into “what it takes to build a universe on a computer,” Davé explains that accounting for every star in the observable universe, itself only a fraction of outer space, would exceed the world’s cumulative computing power, and that a comprehensive simulation would take “over 100,000 times the age of the Universe” to compute. The solution is to make compromises: astronomers reduce the complexity of simulations (and thus the processing power required to run them) by restricting their focus to discrete portions of space and lumping clusters of stars into a single data point. There are some intriguing tidbits (early simulations in the mid-1980s revealed that cosmic matter is arranged in “filaments, sheets and nodes,” not randomly), but jargon-filled discussions of the formulas used to model cosmic bodies are difficult to follow, as when the author outlines a technique for simplifying the calculation of gravity: “The hard bit is computing the Fourier transform, but fortunately computer scientists have invented an algorithm known as a fast Fourier transform (FFT), which scales with the number of grid cells as Nlog2 N.” Burdened by technical language, this is tough going. Photos. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"Davé starts his concise and well-written book by explaining the fundamental limitations of observational astronomy: even with the best telescopes imaginable we will never be able to watch individual galaxies form and evolve because of the cosmic timescales involved . . . but what we can do is model these distant targets on computers, and in Simulating the Cosmos cosmologist Davé takes us through the A-Z of these simulations . . . This is an enthralling read that is highly recommended to readers, including prospective astrophysicists, keen to understand more about how modern cosmology is actually accomplished."

BBC Sky at Night

"Simulating the Cosmos explains beautifully and authoritatively how astrophysicists simulate the formation and evolution of galaxies in the expanding universe, and how we test our theories by comparing simulations with observations."

Joel Primack

"[An] exhilarating, candid report from cosmology’s front lines. . . . The awe I experienced while reading [this book] overwhelmed my jadedness and doubt. I was especially enthralled by Mr. Davé’s speculation that individual galaxies, rather than existing in isolation, interact with one another via intergalactic winds driven by supernovas.

Wall Street Journal

"The book is a great review of the history of our understanding of cosmology alongside how simulating the universe has improved in the last few decades. Davé writes with a sense of humor that anyone who has taken a physics or astronomy class will find familiar, while taking care to explain difficult concepts in a clear manner similar to the best lecturers in the field. . . . Highly recommended."

Choice

"Building imaginary universes in a supercomputer has been a great success of modern astronomy. Here we have one of the world’s masters of this numerical alchemy giving us both the science and the personal story behind our current understanding of how galaxies like the milky way came to exist."

John Peacock