The Physics department colloquia are usually on Friday afternoons at 3 pm in Room 135. Coffee and cookies are served at 2:45 pm in the same room. Anyone is welcome.

Simulating Cosmic Reionization
Dr. Nick Gnedin, Professor at the University of Chicago and Scientist at Fermilab

I will review the field of numerical simulations of cosmic reionization: the process of ionizing of intergalactic medium by high redshift galaxies and quasars. I will describe the main physical processes that are important for modeling reionization, explain how these processes are incorporated in computer simulations, and will use simulations to gain insight into the actual reionization process.

I will finish with an illustration of how the exponential progress in the computer industry allows us to solve problems that we could not even dream about a mere 10 years ago.