The Illustris++ Project: The Next Generation of Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations of Galaxy Formation

Abstract

Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation provide the most powerful technique for calculating the non-linear evolution of cosmic structure formation. This approach starts from initial conditions determined during the Big Bang – which are precisely specified in the cosmological standard model – and evolves them forward in time to the present epoch, thereby providing detailed predictions that test the cosmological paradigm. Here we report first preliminary results from a new generation of hydrodynamical simulations that excel with new physics, enlarged dynamic range and more accurate numerical techniques. The simulations of our ongoing Illustris++ project on HazelHen successfully reproduce the appearance of a red sequence of galaxies that are quenched by accreting supermassive black holes, while at the same time yielding a population of disk galaxies with properties that closely match observational data. Also, we are able to predict the amplification of magnetic fields through small-scale dynamo processes in realistic simulations of large galaxy populations, thereby providing novel predictions for the field strength and topology expected for galaxies of different size and type.