Numerical simulations in gravitation and astrophysics are computational techniques that solve the governing equations of gravitational dynamics—typically Einstein’s field equations of general relativity or the Newtonian/relativistic N-body problem—using discretization schemes such as finite difference, finite volume, spectral, or particle-based methods. They enable quantitative modeling of systems like compact-object binaries, gravitational-wave sources, stellar evolution, accretion flows, galaxy formation, and large-scale structure. These simulations incorporate additional physics (e.g., magnetohydrodynamics, radiation transport, nuclear microphysics) and employ high-performance computing, adaptive mesh refinement, and sophisticated time-integration algorithms to resolve multi-scale, nonlinear phenomena inaccessible to purely analytic approaches.
To probe the mysteries of how galaxies evolve over time, scientists needed a supercomputer with out-of-this-world computational power.
Astronomy
Oct 1, 2025
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The consortium running the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid mission has published the most extensive simulation of the cosmos to date. The modeling was based on algorithms developed by UZH professor Joachim Stadel.
Astronomy
Sep 23, 2025
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216
An international research collaboration has used advanced computer simulations to investigate how faint radio signals from the early universe, soon to be observed from missions on the far side of the moon, could shed light ...
Astronomy
Sep 17, 2025
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81
Over the course of more than two decades, researchers at the University of Bern have developed the so-called "Bern model," a suite of computer programs that can numerically simulate the formation of planetary systems, thus ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 9, 2025
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52
We're often told it is "unscientific" or "meaningless" to ask what happened before the Big Bang. But a new paper by FQxI cosmologist Eugene Lim, of King's College London, UK, and astrophysicists Katy Clough, of Queen Mary ...
Astronomy
Aug 21, 2025
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Pictures are the key to new insights in the field of astrophysics. Such images include simulations of cosmic events, which astrophysicists at UZH use to investigate how stars, planets and galaxies came into existence.
Astronomy
Aug 20, 2025
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98
Researchers have used machine learning to dramatically speed up the processing time when simulating galaxy evolution coupled with supernova explosion. This approach could help us understand the origins of our own galaxy, ...
Astronomy
Jul 3, 2025
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44
A USC-led research team has created a series of supercomputer-simulated twins of our Milky Way galaxy—which could help scientists unlock new answers about one of the biggest mysteries in the universe: dark matter, the invisible ...
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2025
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130
Binary neutron star mergers, cosmic collisions between two very dense stellar remnants made up predominantly of neutrons, have been the topic of numerous astrophysics studies due to their fascinating underlying physics and ...
Scientists have created a computer simulation that mimics what the Square Kilometer Array Low-frequency (SKA-Low) telescope will see when it searches for signals from the universe's earliest epochs. This simulation represents ...
Astronomy
Jun 13, 2025
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