Slime Mold Can Teach Us About the Cosmic Web

Computers truly are wonderful things and powerful but only if they are programmed by a skilful mind. Check this out… there is an algorithm that mimics the growth of slim mold but a team of researchers have adapted it to model the large scale structure of the Universe. Since the Big Bang, the universe has been expanding while gravity concentrates matter into galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Between them are vast swathes of empty space called voids. The structure, often referred to as the cosmic web.

The cosmic web is the largest scale structure of the universe and it’s made up of filaments of galaxies and dark matter that stretch across the gulf of space. The filaments connect galaxy clusters with immense voids in between. The web-like structure has formed as a result of the force of gravity pulling matter together since the beginning of time. Studying the cosmic web helps us to piece together the evolution of the universe, how matter is distributed and the relationship with dark matter. 

Since the early 80’s it’s been known that the nature of a galaxy and its environmental properties has an impact on how it grows and evolves. The exact nature and how this happens is still the cause of many debates. A team of researchers believe they may have demonstrated how galaxies evolve using a slime algorithm!

The team, led by Farhanul Hasan, Professor Joe Burchett and eight co-authors, published their findings ‘Filaments of the Slime Mold Cosmic Web and How they Affect Galaxy Evolution’ in August’s edition of the Astrophysical Journal.  In the paper they report how the mold algorithm has helped to unlock mysteries of the cosmos. 

Burchett recommended the slime mold algorithm could be used for an astrophysical application. Hasan worked with Burchett and altered the algorithm to help them visualise the cosmic web. The team worked with graphics rendering expert Oskar Elek to use the slime mold algorithm. The mold algorithm was designed to mimic slime mold that could find its own food by reforming itself into a structure much like the cosmic web. It took the team several years to complete their work. 

The result produced far more detailed discrete structures than the old method according to Hasan. He added ‘I didn’t know how well it was going to work or not work, but I had a hunch the slime mold method could tell us much more detailed information about how density is structured in the universe, so I decided to give it a try.’

Of the conclusion, Hasan and team found that the impact on galaxies seems to have taken the proverbial u-turn. In earlier epochs, the growth of a galaxy was stimulated by proximity to larger structures. In the near universe, and therefore in cosmologically recent times, we see that galaxy growth is limited by proximity to larger structures. This wasn’t possible without the modified slime mold algorithm. We can now map out the gas around the real universe using the algorithm across many different times to help understand how the web has changed and the universe evolved. 

Source : NMSU astronomy research uses slime mold to model galaxies