Lessons in Near-Field Cosmology from Simulating the Local Group

Thu, November 20, 2014

Studies of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) galaxies, along with their associated satellites and nearby dwarf galaxies, have proven immensely useful for constraining the cosmology of the Universe, particularly on small scales. I will present a number of simulations, many of which are a part of the ELVIS Suite, cosmological zoom-in simulations of Local Group-like volumes of MW/M31 pairs. Using these, and other simulations, I will highlight existing tensions within the LCDM paradigm, as well as illustrate how simulations can provide links between near-field and deep-field observations.