We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Software

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is the Millennium Simulation?

Michael Anissimov
By
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 8,026
Share

The Millennium Simulation, formally known as the Millennium Run, is one of the largest ever simulations of the development of the universe. The Millennium Simulation was developed in 2005 by the Virgo Consortium, a group of astrophysicists from Germany, the UK, Canada, Japan, and the USA. The simulation, which was run on a supercomputer in Garching, Germany, included over 10 billion "particles," simulating 20 million galaxies and quasars in a virtual cube about 2 billion light years on a side. The Millennium Simulation was created as a tool to produce predictions about the large-scale structure of the universe and compare them against observational data and the theories of astrophysicists.

The Millennium Simulation begins about 379,000 years after the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, when the universe was extremely dense and hot. And that time, matter consisted of a plasma of electrons, photons, and baryons, and the universe was bathed in a radiation flux. As the universe expanded and cooled, it reached a critical temperature -- about 3000 K -- and began to "decouple" into radiation and independent matter. This event produced the cosmic microwave background radiation, which today saturates the universe and has a universal temperature of about 2.7 K. Because of detailed observations of the cosmic microwave background, physicists have a good idea about the state of the universe at the instant of decoupling, and this information was programmed in to the Millennium Simulation to serve as its initial state.

After running the Millennium Simulation on a powerful supercomputer for over a month, the Virgo Consortium got their results -- over 25 terabytes (TB) of data, enough to fit on 5,300 DVDs. Displayed in visual form, the output looks like a fine three-dimensional web of filaments with fractal self-similarity on multiple layers of organization. These filaments are actually dark matter, which makes up most of the mass in the universe. Dark matter cannot be seen directly, but its existence can be inferred from its gravitational influence on visible matter. In the model, the filaments can be seen directly, something impossible with real dark matter.

Running the Millennium Simulation gave astrophysicists an abundance of new data about how the universe might have evolved, and predicts the "supercluster" structure that we observe from astronomical data. One of the earliest results derived from the Millennium Simulation was that black holes were able to have formed earlier than previously thought, something supported by experimental data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, but which challenges our current cosmological models.

Share
EasyTechJunkie is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Michael Anissimov
By Michael Anissimov
Michael Anissimov is a dedicated EasyTechJunkie contributor and brings his expertise in paleontology, physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and futurism to his articles. An avid blogger, Michael is deeply passionate about stem cell research, regenerative medicine, and life extension therapies. His professional experience includes work with the Methuselah Foundation, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and Lifeboat Foundation, further showcasing his commitment to scientific advancement.

Related Articles

Discussion Comments
Michael Anissimov
Michael Anissimov
Michael Anissimov is a dedicated EasyTechJunkie contributor and brings his expertise in paleontology, physics, biology,...
Learn more
Share
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-the-millenium-simulation.htm
Copy this link
EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.