Simulations of the Local Universe

One of the greatest challenges of modern astrophysics is understanding how galaxies, such as our Milky Way, form within the framework of the Big Bang cosmology. The current theory of structure formation, the extension of the Big Bang model called the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) scenario, predicts that galaxies form within extended massive dark matter halos built from smaller pieces that collided and merged, resulting in the hierarchy of galaxies, groups, and clusters observed today. The entire sequence of events is thought to be seeded by quantum fluctuations in the very early Universe and governed by mysterious “dark matter” which constitutes about 85% of all matter in the universe. Although the accurate properties of galaxies depend on complicated baryonic processes (radiative cooling, formation and evolution of stars, etc.) operating on small scales, we expect that overall spatial distribution of “dark matter” halos is closely related to the observed galaxy distribution. Here we present numerical simulations designed to study the formation, evolution and present day properties of such dark matter halos in different cosmological environments.