Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1998. 36: 599-654 Copyright © 1998 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

Reprinted with kind permission from Annual Reviews, 4139 El Camino Way, Palo Alto, California, USA

For a PDF version of the article, click here.

Abstract. Cosmic structure has formed as a result of gravitational amplification of primordial density fluctuations together with the action of other physical processes (adiabatic gas dynamics, radiative cooling, photoionization and recombination, radiative transfer). These complex nonlinear processes, acting over a wide range of length scales (from kiloparsecs to tens of megaparsecs), make this a difficult problem for computation. During the last two decades, significant progress has been made in developing numerical methods and statistical tools for analyzing simulations and data. Combined with observational advances, numerical simulations have led to the demise of several formerly popular models and to an improved understanding of galaxy clusters, quasistellar object (QSO) absorption line systems, and other phenomena. This review summarizes these advances.

Key words: cosmology, galaxy formation, numerical simulation

Table of Contents

• INTRODUCTION
• SIMULATION ALGORITHMS
• Gravity Calculation and Dark Matter Evolution
• Gas Dynamics
• Additional Physics
• Initial Conditions
• Numerical and Physical Limitations
• Biased Galaxy Formation
• ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
• Statistics Using Particle Positions
• Statistics of Density Fields
• Velocity Statistics
• Redshift Space Distortions
• Internal Properties of Galaxies, Halos, or Clusters
• TESTING OF COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
• Cold Dark Matter
• Variants of Cold Dark Matter
• Other Models
• APPLICATIONS
• Clusters of Galaxies
• Gravitational Lensing
• Quasistellar Object Absorption Lines
• Radial Profiles of Dark Matter Halos
• Self-Similar Clustering in Scale-Free Models
• Testing Approximations for Nonlinear Gravitational Dynamics
• FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• REFERENCES