In a new study, researchers have applied an algorithm based on the behavior of slime mold to model the large-scale structure of the Universe. This innovative approach has provided new insights into the cosmic web, the vast network of galaxies and dark matter that stretches across space.
The Universe, since its inception with the Big Bang, has been expanding while gravity has pulled matter into galaxies and clusters, leaving behind vast areas of empty space known as voids. These voids and the filaments that connect galaxy clusters form the cosmic web which is the largest known structure in the Universe. These filaments are composed of galaxies and dark matter, stretching through the voids like the threads of a cosmic spiderweb.
The recent study led by Farhanul Hasan, alongside Professor Joe Burchett and a team of researchers, adapted a slime mold algorithm to model this cosmic web in greater detail than previous methods. This algorithm, originally designed to simulate the way slime mold locates food by reconfiguring itself into an efficient network, has surprisingly proven to be an ideal tool for mapping the Universe’s vast filaments.
“The slime mold method could tell us much more detailed information about how density is structured in the Universe,” Hasan said.
The slime mold algorithm outperformed older techniques by creating more accurate and finely detailed models of the cosmic web. According to Hasan, the results “produced far more detailed discrete structures than the old method,” revealing how matter is distributed in ways previously undetected.
This new technique has allowed researchers to gain insights into galaxy evolution. Since the early 1980s, astronomers have known that the environment in which a galaxy forms influences its growth and evolution. However, the specifics have remained elusive. Using the slime mold algorithm, the research team discovered that in the early Universe, galaxies grew more quickly when located near larger cosmic structures. But in more recent times, this relationship appears to have reversed.
“In the near Universe, galaxy growth is limited by proximity to larger structures,” explained Hasan.
Moreover, the team has been able to simulate and visualize the cosmic web’s evolution over time, revealing how galaxies interact with the web’s filaments across different epochs.