Department of Astronomy


Building the cosmos: how simulations shed light on the dark universe


Risa Wechsler

Stanford University


Recent advances in observations of the cosmos have allowed us to peer into the earliest moments of our Universe, and have dramatically changed our picture of its contents, which we now think is dominated by two components very different from us: dark matter and dark energy. Professor Wechsler will walk you through how cutting-edge simulations allow us to be a fly on the wall during the formation of the cosmos, help us understand on the physical processes that created the Universe we see today, and shed light on the dark side of the Universe.