Astrophysicists Build Realistic Virtual Universe

sciencehabit writes "In the most detailed effort yet, astrophysicists and cosmologists have modeled the evolution of the universe right down to the formation of individual galaxies. The results of the mammoth computer simulation neatly match multiple astronomical observations, ranging from the distribution of galaxies in massive galaxy clusters to the amounts of neutral hydrogen gas in galaxies large and small (abstract). The findings once again neatly confirm cosmologists' standard theory of the basic ingredients of the universe and how it evolved—a result that may disappoint researchers hoping for new puzzles to solve."

Comments

internal detection

[RichMan]

the big question is are entities in the simulation able to detect it is a simulation.

simulating a phenomena does not validate the model

[jclaer]

Choosing parameters that best simulate a model does not mean that model is correct.

Re:simulating a phenomena does not validate the mo

[DMUTPeregrine]

If there are no parameters for a model that allow the model to simulate reality, then the model must be incorrect.
If there are parameters for a model that allow the model to simulate reality, then the model may be correct, but may still be incorrect.

This work moves us from the first state to the second, at least when it comes to simulating rather large scale structure.