Describing the evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang to what we see today is not an easy undertaking. The advent of powerful parallel computers has created a unique opportunity for astronomers to study the build up of structure over cosmic time. In particular, these machines are now helping us understand when and how galaxies formed. Current models have remarkable success at reproducing the large scale features of our Universe, for example. Although a great deal of our modern understanding of the Universe has come from studying it in this way, current models are still struggling with the details, particularly on small scales. In my talk I will discuss the current state of the art in computational astrophysics, some of the problems in the models and how astronomers are working hard to solve them.

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.

A complete listing of MKI’s IAP offerings for 2015, is available here.