GADGET (code)
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| GADGET (code) | |
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| Name | GADGET |
| Title | GADGET (code) |
| Developer | Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, University of Cambridge, University of Heidelberg |
| Released | 2000s |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| License | GNU GPL (some versions) |
GADGET (code) is a parallel N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation code widely used in computational astrophysics for cosmological structure formation, galaxy evolution, and large-scale simulations. Originally developed in the early 2000s, it has been employed by researchers associated with institutions such as the Max Planck Society, University of Cambridge, and Heidelberg University on projects linked with observatories and surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, European Southern Observatory, and Space Telescope Science Institute. The code has influenced studies involving dark matter, baryons, and radiative processes used by scientists at Princeton University, Harvard University, and the Kavli Institute.
History
GADGET traces roots to work by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and collaborators who built on methods applied in simulations used by groups at Princeton, Cambridge, and Berkeley. Early development paralleled computational advances at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, while attracting interest from teams connected to the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and European Space Agency. The code’s evolution was influenced by algorithmic traditions from researchers at the University of Maryland, Caltech, and MIT and was adopted in large projects coordinated with the Virgo Consortium, Royal Astronomical Society, and American Astronomical Society. Subsequent milestones involved integrations with libraries and standards promoted by the Message Passing Interface community, the GNU Project, and High Performance Computing centers such as Jülich Supercomputing Centre and Leibniz-Rechenzentrum.
Design and Algorithms
GADGET implements a hierarchical tree algorithm derived from work by researchers at Cambridge and Princeton for computing gravitational forces, combined with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics methods influenced by approaches developed at Illinois, Kyoto University, and Leiden Observatory. The code uses domain decomposition strategies related to techniques used at Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and parallelization patterns common to systems at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and NASA Advanced Supercomputing. Time integration schemes in GADGET follow precedents set by numerical analysts at Stanford University and ETH Zurich, while artificial viscosity and entropy-conserving formulations echo methods from the University of Michigan and University of Tokyo. GADGET’s data structures enable interactions with analysis tools from Caltech, Max Planck, and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and its I/O conventions reflect practices from the HDF5 and FITS communities including collaborations with ESA and NASA archives.
Versions and Variants
Several major branches and forks have emerged, associated with research groups at institutions such as the Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg, Cambridge, and the University of Massachusetts. Notable derivatives and successors were developed in contexts linked to the Illustris project, Millennium Simulation teams, and collaborations with the European Research Council, Royal Society, and National Science Foundation-funded consortia. Variants adapted for GPU acceleration drew on initiatives at NVIDIA, Oak Ridge, and Argonne, while specialized versions integrated subgrid physics modules developed in partnership with institutes like the Institute of Astronomy, Kavli Institute, and the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris. Other forks were coordinated with software ecosystems at the Leibniz Institute, University of Edinburgh, and the Flatiron Institute.
Applications
GADGET has been applied to studies of galaxy formation and clustering pursued by groups at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Yale University, and Johns Hopkins University; investigations of dark matter halos associated with research at Princeton, the Institute for Advanced Study, and CERN; models of interstellar medium processes used by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the University of Oslo; and predictions for surveys carried out by the European Southern Observatory, Subaru Telescope teams, and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Further applications include simulations relevant to the Planck mission analysis, Atacama Large Millimeter Array science, Gaia Consortium investigations, and analyses produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Performance and Scalability
Performance characteristics of GADGET were assessed on architectures provided by national facilities including PRACE centers, TACC, and NERSC, and compared against codes from groups at Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore, and Argonne. Scaling studies referenced results from supercomputers such as Summit, Fugaku, and JUWELS, with optimization efforts informed by collaborations with Intel, AMD, and Cray (HPE). Memory management and load balancing approaches drew on research from the University of Tokyo, EPFL, and ETH Zurich, while I/O performance improvements paralleled work by teams at HDF Group, CERN IT, and Oak Ridge.
Licensing and Availability
Different releases of the code have been distributed under licenses influenced by the GNU Project and institutional policies at the Max Planck Society and collaborating universities, with source availability facilitated through repositories and distribution mechanisms aligned with practices at GitHub, Bitbucket, and institutional archives at Cambridge and Heidelberg. Distribution and citation norms reflect standards promoted by the American Physical Society, Royal Astronomical Society, and the International Astronomical Union.
Community and Development
An active developer and user community formed around the code involving contributors from institutions including the Max Planck Institute, University of Cambridge, Heidelberg University, Harvard, Princeton, and the Flatiron Institute. Workshops and summer schools organized by organizations such as the Kavli Foundation, European Southern Observatory, and the Aspen Center for Physics supported training, while collaborative projects linked to the Virgo Consortium, Illustris collaboration, and Millennium teams fostered shared development. Ongoing maintenance and feature extensions have involved interactions with software engineering groups at the HDF Group, MPI Forum, and national computing centers in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Category:Astrophysics software