Newly developed numerical methods will be applied to problems of disk interactions with magnetized stars. Specifically, 3-dimensional models of disk-magnetosphere interactions will be generated using numerical codes based on an inflated cube grid. The simulations will be used to help link observational data with underlying physics. The goal is to help understand the nature of the variability of different types of magnetized stars (Classical T Tauri stars, cataclysmic variables, and accreting neutron stars). With this in mind, four different activities will be undertaken: (1) simulations will be run with parameters as close to observational constraints as possible; (2) different mechanisms of variability and quasi-variability which follow from 2-dimensional and 3- dimensional numerical modeling will be investigated; (3) the light-curves from the modeled magnetized stars will be calculated and analyzed to determine the origin of different peaks in the power spectra; and (4) a program will be developed which will search for the best match between observed and modeled light curves. Included is the training of graduate and undergraduate students in complex magnetohydrodynamic physics as well as advanced programming and modeling techniques. The results obtained here will be disseminated to the public through an education/public outreach program at the local Science Museum and through a Virtual Reality outreach program to school children and educators.
