Oral presentation: The universe in a box

When and how galaxies formed throughout the history of the Universe is one of the most fundamental questions of astronomy and astrophysics. As technology improves, astronomers are able to push the frontier of galaxy observation to a period when the Universe was less than 1 billion years old. This is when the first galaxies are beginning to form. However, beyond the limits of observational technology lies data fundamental to our complete understanding of these processes. Using state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamic computer codes combined with access to the nation’s largest and fastest supercomputers, we are able to simulate the formation and evolution of galaxies self-consistently from very early time to the present time, and explore the same physical and photometric properties of early galaxies. Using simulated universe in the computer, we make predictions of what lies beyond current observational limits, and make predictions for the next generation of space telescope