Cosmological N-Body simulation: Techniques, Scope and Status

Abstract

Cosmological N-Body simulations have become an essential tool for studying formation of large scale structure. These simulations are computationally challenging even though the available computing power gets better every year. A number of efficient algorithms have been developed to run large simulations with better dynamic range and resolution. We discuss key algorithms in this review, focusing on techniques used and their efficacy. N-Body simulations solve a model that is an approximation of the physical model to be simulated, we discuss limitations arising from this approximation and techniques employed for solving equations. Apart from simulating models of structure formation, N-Body simulations have also been used to study aspects of gravitational clustering. Simulating formation of galaxies requires us to take many physical process into account; we review numerical implementations of key processes.

Invited Review; To appear in Current Science (special issue on Cosmology, Guest editor T.Padmanabhan)

Cited by in corpus (13)

• The cosmology dependence of galaxy clustering and lensing from a hybrid $N$-body-perturbation theory model
• 1-d gravity in infinite point distributions
• Some statistical remarks on the Giant GRB Ring
• A weak acceleration effect due to residual gravity in a multiply connected universe
• Effects of the size of cosmological N-Body simulations on physical quantities - III: Skewness
• Description of the evolution of inhomogeneities on a Dark Matter halo with the Vlasov equation
• A new framework for numerical simulations of structure formation
• The Tessellation-Level-Tree: characterising the nested hierarchy of density peaks and their spatial distribution in cosmological N-body simulations
• A Modified TreePM Code
• Gravitational collapse in an expanding background and the role of substructure II: Excess power at small scales and its effect of collapse of structures at larger scales
• Yukawa vs. Newton: gravitational forces in a cubic cosmological simulation box
• Multi-Scale Perturbation Theory II: Solutions and Leading-Order Bispectrum in the $\Lambda$CDM Universe
• A new gravitational N-body simulation algorithm for investigation of cosmological chaotic advection