Dr. McMillan will study the behavior of stellar dynamical systems using new computational techniques and capabilities. In particular he will perform numerical studies of two separate, but closely related, problems involving the dynamics of self-gravitating systems. The first entails the extension of existing integration techniques into qualitatively new domains, via the incorporation of new force evaluation methods into established integration codes. The second involves a detailed investigation of the celebrated three-body problem, concentrating on the structure of its parameter space for scattering encounters, and on the stability of so called hierarchical triples. The results of this work will be: (i) the development of a new stellar dynamical integration code that will permit a qualitatively new degree of realism to be introduced into star cluster simulations; (ii) a significant improvement in our understanding of the microphysical processes that drive the evolution, and determine the appearance of star clusters; and (iii) important new additions to the arsenal of numerical techniques that will enable us to fully utilize the capabilities of the next generation of super and parallel computers. Of particular interest is the application of a new massively parallel computer in star cluster simulations and comparison of its suitability for these computations with that of more traditional supercomputers.
