This Supercomputer simulated the Universe in the most detailed way yet — Here’s what It means for astronomy!
A revolutionary breakthrough in cosmology has emerged from one of the most powerful machines on Earth. Frontier, the world’s second-fastest supercomputer, has created the largest and most intricate simulation of the universe to date. This monumental achievement pushes the boundaries of astrophysics, enabling scientists to explore the evolution of the cosmos with unparalleled precision.
Frontier is a Computational Marvel
Housed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Frontier stands as a pinnacle of modern computing. As the first exascale supercomputer, it can execute an astronomical 1.1 quintillion floating-point operations per second (FLOPS). Its hardware comprises 9,472 AMD central processing units (CPUs) and an incredible 37,888 AMD graphics processing units (GPUs).
Until November 2024, Frontier was the fastest supercomputer on Earth, before El Capitan at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory overtook it with a blistering 1.742 exaFLOPS.
Despite this, Frontier remains a critical tool for groundbreaking research. Its extraordinary capabilities are being leveraged by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory team, led by computational science director Salman Habib. The team utilized the Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code (HACC), a program developed specifically to model the universe’s evolution on cutting-edge supercomputers. HACC’s adaptability makes it a versatile asset, continually evolving to exploit the power of new machines.
From Gravity-Only Models to Full Cosmological Hydrodynamics
HACC has previously been used on petascale supercomputers, such as Summit, to run gravity-only simulations. These earlier simulations provided significant insights but were limited in scope. For instance, the Argonne team conducted three notable simulations on Summit:
- Qo’nos Simulation: Based on the standard cosmological model, this simulation examined the effects of dark matter and dark energy.
- Vulcan Simulation: Factored in the role of massive neutrinos in shaping the cosmos.
- Ferenginar Simulation: Explored a universe where dark energy changes over time rather than remaining constant.
These simulations revealed crucial findings, such as how variations in dark energy could influence galaxy clustering in the early universe. However, they were constrained by Summit’s computational power, leaving out critical forces and phenomena.
With Frontier’s unmatched speed and processing power, scientists can now incorporate additional forces, such as hot gas dynamics, star and galaxy formation, and black hole behavior. Habib describes this as “cosmological hydrodynamics,” where every aspect of the universe is simulated in unprecedented detail.
Surpassing Expectations
As part of the Department of Energy’s $1.8 billion ExaSky initiative, Frontier had to meet rigorous performance benchmarks. Specifically, HACC was required to run at least 50 times faster on Frontier than on Titan, a supercomputer that debuted in 2012. Frontier exceeded expectations by achieving speeds nearly 300 times faster than Titan, making it a transformative tool for cosmology.
Bronson Messer, director of science at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, emphasized the significance of these simulations, noting that Frontier enables the inclusion of baryonic matter—the ordinary matter that makes up stars, planets, and galaxies—alongside dark matter and dark energy. This approach produces simulations that rival the scale and detail of major astronomical surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
What These Simulations Mean for Astronomy
The data generated by Frontier provides a sandbox for astronomers to test and refine their theories. By comparing simulated results with real-world observations, researchers can probe questions about the nature of dark matter, the strength of dark energy, and alternative gravitational theories such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND).
For instance, if simulations reveal stronger clustering of galaxies under certain conditions, astronomers can look for similar patterns in high-redshift galaxy surveys, which explore the universe’s most distant regions.
Are We Living in a Simulation?
As computational power grows, simulations become increasingly realistic. This raises a tantalizing question: Could we, too, be living in a simulation? If our universe is the product of another civilization’s experiment, it challenges the very fabric of our understanding of reality. It’s a concept often likened to the philosophical notion of “turtles all the way down.”
Regardless of the answer, Frontier’s work represents a leap forward in humanity’s quest to understand the universe. With each simulation, we get closer to uncovering the cosmic forces that govern everything around us.
