Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP) Monthly Meeting

Our current model of the Universe, known as the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) model, is so successful at describing the distribution of galaxies in the Universe that we actually see that we can use large galaxy surveys as high-precision experiments to determine the fundamental constants of nature. Modeling the dynamics of dark matter, dark energy, and baryons requires large computer simulations to reproduce the many observed properties of galaxies. Prof. Teyssier will also discuss the limits of our current knowledge from the Big Bang to present day galaxies such as the Milky Way and the recent cracks in the ΛCDM model as revealed by recent observations.