The Via Lactea INCITE Simulation: Galactic Dark Matter Substructure at High Resolution

TL;DR

This paper presents the Via Lactea INCITE simulation, a high-resolution computational study of a galactic dark matter halo and its substructure, providing insights into galaxy formation and dark matter properties.

Contribution

It introduces a billion-particle simulation of a galactic dark matter halo, revealing detailed substructure distribution and dynamics at unprecedented resolution.

Findings

Identification of numerous self-bound subhalos within the main halo

Detailed spatial distribution of substructure consistent with cold dark matter predictions

Insights into galaxy assembly processes from subhalo properties

Abstract

It is a clear unique prediction of the cold dark matter paradigm of cosmological structure formation that galaxies form hierarchically and are embedded in massive, extended dark halos teeming with self-bound substructure or "subhalos". The amount and spatial distribution of subhalos around their host provide unique information and clues on the galaxy assembly process and the nature of the dark matter. Here we present results from the Via Lactea INCITE simulation, a one billion particle, one million cpu-hour simulation of the formation and evolution of a Galactic dark matter halo and its substructure population.