Speaker
Description
Simulations of the early structure formation and the Epoch of Reionization have
now reached sufficient volume, dynamic range and resolution to make reliable
predictions of the fundamental features and observable signatures of these
epochs at the full range of relevant scales. I will summarise important recent
progress our group has made in this area based on an ongoing, multi-year
simulation project. It includes performing a series of structure formation,
radiative transfer and radiative hydrodynamics simulations of early structure
and galaxy formation on all relevant scales, from the tiny cosmological minihaloes
hosting the very first stars up to very large volumes of hundreds of Mpc.
A highlight of this project is the Cosmic Dawn suite of fully-coupled N-body
and radiative hydrodynamics simulations, which by some measures is the largest
such simulations ever performed, with up to 8192^3 (512 billion) particles and
8192^3 radiative transfer and hydrodynamics grid. These flagship simulations are
complemented by highly-zoomed simulations of the detailed small-scale structures
and feedback, particularly in the context of our own Local Group, as well as by
very large-scale volumes, matched to the full fields of view of redshifted 21-cm
experiments like LOFAR ans SKA. Furthermore, I will present the first implementation
of the effects of baryon-dark matter drift velocities within large-volume zoom
simulations of early structures.
