Machine learning accelerates cosmological simulations

IMAGE: The leftmost simulation ran at low resolution. Using machine learning, researchers upscaled the low-res model to create a high-resolution simulation (right). A universe evolves over billions upon billions of years, but researchers have developed a way to create a complex simulated universe in less than a day. The technique, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brings together machine learning, high-performance computing and astrophysics and will help to usher in a new era of high-resolution cosmology simulations. Cosmological simulations are an essential part of teasing out the many mysteries of the universe, including those of dark matter and dark energy.