What exactly did the Frontier supercomputer calculate?
Frontier is an exascale-class supercomputer, capable of running a quintillion (one billion-billion) calculations per second.
The astrophysical kitchen sink so to speak.
A sample of simulations showing a model of the expanding universe (left) and a zoomed-in view of tracer particles (right).Image: Argonne National Laboratory, U.S Dept of Energy
How does Frontier change our understanding of the universe?
Until recently, we couldnt even imagine doing such a large simulation like that except in the gravity-only approximation.
It resides at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, though the recent simulations were run by Argonne researchers.
The simulations results were announced last month, when Frontier was still the fastest supercomputer in the world.
But shortly after, Frontier was eclipsed by the El Capitan supercomputer as the worlds fastest.
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