TITLE:

Various problems in computational astrophysics

DATE:

Friday, March 8th, 2013

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS 214

SPEAKER:

Wayne Hayes.
Associate Professor of Computer Science.
University of California, Irvine.

ABSTRACT:

I will discuss three projects I and my research group have worked in in the application of computation to astrophysical problems. In the first, I will discuss a method by which one can rigorously prove that gravitational simulations of huge gravitational n-body problems, such as galaxies, are correct despite the accumulation of numerical error and the presence of chaos in the system. Second, I will demonstrate how a similarly careful numerical simulation solved a long-standing mystery in the long-term dynamics of the solar system. Both of these problems were purely numerical simulations of gravitational systems. The third project involves extracting structural information from images of spiral galaxies, which can be used to test theories of the long-term evolution of galaxies.

HOST:

Dr. Jose Castillo.

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