9307762 Ernst Dr. Ernst will carry out a program of research in mathematical gravitational physics. He will employ techniques devised by I. Hauser and himself to determine the spacetime distortion that takes place when arbitrarily specified gravitational plane waves collide, and to determine the spacetime curvature associated with spinning masses when the gravitational potential is specified arbitrarily on the axis of rotation. He will also study the possible application of similar techniques to physical problems that are less idealized. Purely analytical methods will be supplemented by numerical computation and graphical display whenever the complexity of the problem demands such an approach. The attempt to solve ever more realistic gravitational problems using the general theory of relativity should continue to spawn new mathematical techniques that can be applied as well to other nonlinear physical theories, and which should provide a deeper insight into nonlinear phenomena in general. ***
