We use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies and the dark matter structures that surround them. In the past, comparable simulations have mostly studied regions in which galaxies and structures form at random. This is sufficient for understanding the general physical processes, but only gives an indirect, statistical description of the Universe. To understand the individual objects that surround us - the Milky Way galaxy, the Local Group, and the nearby galaxy clusters such as Virgo and Coma, we need a different type of simulations, in which we can recreate the same structures that are observed. We propose to create a series of such simulations that reproduce the Local Universe as we observe it: to answer important astrophysical and cosmological questions, to interpret the wealth of astronomical observations that has recently been collected, make predictions for future observations, and to share it with astronomers around the world.

2023

2028