Astronomy & Astrophysics

The lifetime evolution of binary stellar systems, including both changes in the component stars and the binary system itself, were studied with a focus on compact objects and gravitational radiation. With colleagues, I carried out astronomical observations with ground-based radio (VLA) and optical (Kitt Peak) telescopes at the NSF national observatories, as well as space-based x-ray (Einstein) satellites and integrated the findings into an updated understanding of our neighbor Andromeda galaxy. My students and co-workers were able to extend computational methods to include general relativistic hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics and apply this new capability to the solution of fundamental problems such as accretion onto black holes, which powers galactic nuclei. My colleagues and I later used supercomputers to perform the first computations of colliding neutron stars, non-spherical supernova collapse, and extragalactic radio jets. All of these areas are flourishing computational astrophysical science fields today.