Among physical interactions, gravitation plays a unique role because it applies to all forms of matter and energy, it determines the structure of space and time, and it is believed to be dominant at the very largest and very smallest physical scales. At small scales gravity and quantum theory must be combined consistently, a major unfinished goal of physics for many years. Significant clues as to how this can occur may well be embodied in the thermal quantum radiance of black holes. A major objective of this project is to exploit and deepen recently obtained new understanding of the statistical and quantum physics associated with black hole radiance. Productive application of gravity theory to large scale systems, including unusual stars and star systems, and further advances in recent explorations seeking a quantum theory of gravity both depend strongly on an accurate implementation of a subset of Einstein's equations called the constraints. The current understanding of the constraints will be applied in new ways to problems of both the above types. One major application will be calculation of possible initial configurations of two black holes as they begin an orbiting encounter. Such collisions are expected to produce gravity waves that should be detectable by experiments in the 1990's.
