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| Eris (simulation) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Eris (simulation) |
| Developers | Unknown simulation team |
| Initial release | 2000s |
| Programming language | C++, Fortran |
| Platform | High-performance computing clusters |
| Genre | Cosmological N-body + hydrodynamics simulation |
Eris (simulation) is a high-resolution cosmological simulation designed to model the formation and evolution of a disk galaxy in a cold dark matter context. It combines N-body gravity, smoothed particle hydrodynamics, and subgrid models for star formation and feedback to reproduce structural and kinematic properties of Milky Way–like systems. The project connects computational astrophysics groups, supercomputing centers, and observational programs to test predictions against surveys and local group constraints.
Eris was developed to follow the assembly of a single disk galaxy from cosmological initial conditions through hierarchical merging, using techniques refined in projects such as Millennium Simulation, Illustris, EAGLE (project), Via Lactea, and Aquarius (simulation). The simulation selects a target halo within a cosmological volume similar to studies associated with Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and WMAP-informed cosmologies to reproduce properties explored by surveys like Gaia and instruments such as Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory. By linking to theoretical frameworks from Lambda-CDM and methods pioneered in works by groups around Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Princeton University, Eris situates itself among high-resolution attempts to resolve disk morphology and substructure.
The Eris code base built on algorithms and libraries used in projects at institutions including University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Washington, Columbia University, and Yale University, leveraging gravitational solvers and hydrodynamic schemes similar to those in GADGET and numerical techniques championed by teams at Naval Research Laboratory and Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Implementation details trace to practices from collaborations with National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory centers. The development pipeline integrated initial condition generators informed by Planck (spacecraft) and WMAP cosmological parameters, halo selection criteria used in Millennium Simulation follow-ups, and analysis frameworks compatible with outputs used in studies by Space Telescope Science Institute and European Southern Observatory.
Eris adopts a ΛCDM cosmology with parameter choices motivated by WMAP and Planck (spacecraft) results and uses particle masses, force softening lengths, and time-stepping comparable to high-resolution runs like Aquarius (simulation) and Via Lactea. Baryonic physics includes smoothed particle hydrodynamics models akin to those in GADGET-derived studies and subgrid prescriptions for cooling, metal enrichment, and star formation motivated by frameworks developed at Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and University of Zurich. Feedback implementations borrow elements from supernova feedback schemes tested in EAGLE (project) and radiative processes considered in work by Los Alamos National Laboratory and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The setup emphasizes resolving disk scale heights and stellar kinematics at resolutions comparable to those targeted in Illustris zoom-in experiments and hydrodynamic tests performed at Princeton University.
Eris produced a late-type disk galaxy with structural properties, rotation curves, and stellar population gradients comparable to the Milky Way as mapped by Gaia, APOGEE, and SDSS. Key results included a thin stellar disk, realistic bulge-to-disk ratio, and cold gas fractions resonant with observations from ALMA, Very Large Array, and Spitzer Space Telescope. The simulation showed merger histories and satellite populations with statistics similar to those in Local Group studies, echoing subhalo abundance trends seen in Aquarius (simulation) and dynamical heating effects discussed in analyses from Harvard University and Columbia University. Eris also reported metallicity distributions and age–velocity relations informing comparisons to data from Keck Observatory and European Southern Observatory spectroscopic campaigns.
Validation efforts compared Eris outcomes directly to datasets from Gaia, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, APOGEE, RAVE (survey), and resolved stellar population studies using Hubble Space Telescope. Metrics included rotation curve fits analogous to those in analyses by University of California, Berkeley and stellar surface density profiles similar to constraints from Two Micron All Sky Survey. Comparisons to cold gas observations used results from ALMA and Arecibo Observatory, while satellite luminosity functions were contrasted with catalogs compiled by Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Local Group surveys led by teams at Carnegie Institution for Science and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
Eris influenced theoretical work on disk formation, informing studies at Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and institutions contributing to GALAXY formation research programs. The simulation’s outcomes guided interpretations of Milky Way structure in analyses by Gaia consortia and motivated follow-up zoom-in experiments at facilities like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. Its methods fed into educational and outreach efforts at Space Telescope Science Institute and computational astrophysics curricula at University of Chicago and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Eris also provided initial conditions and benchmarks for subsequent projects including those run by Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and multi-physics studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Eris required high-performance computing allocations on systems comparable to those at National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, and NERSC (National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center), employing parallelization strategies similar to those in GADGET and scalable I/O solutions developed at Argonne National Laboratory. Performance tuning drew on expertise from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and workflow management practices used at XSEDE and PRACE, with runtimes and memory footprints tuned to allow billion-particle zoom-ins while retaining detailed baryonic physics consistent with runs conducted at Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.