Ed Buie II, Assistant Professor of Astronomy, secured an ACCESS research grant for supercomputing time on the Anvil Supercomputer at Purdue University for his project in “Exploring the Impact of Varying Star-Forming Backgrounds and Turbulent Conditions on Non-Equilibrium Chemistry in Simulated Galactic Halos.” The ACCESS program (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support) is the National Science Foundation’s follow-on program from XSEDE, and these allocations are investments made by NSF to advance computing infrastructure in the U.S.

Supercomputing time will be used to simulate galaxy formation and the accompanying magnetic fields to learn how the field evolves and influences the chemical evolution of the gas surrounding star-forming galaxies. This gas is difficult to observe with current telescopes and, thus, simulations are needed to understand how these relevant considerations may impact a galaxy's evolution and make predictions for what astronomers may expect to observe.