Hamilton's major accomplishment, as part of his doctoral thesis, was to show the consistency of the model of a type I supernova, exploding from an accreting white dwarf, with the observed x-rays of the supernova remnant, caused by a shock moving into a plasma consisting of heavy elements rather than hydrogen. His planned studies include both supernovae and galaxy clustering, radiation processes and hydrodynamics. Hamilton is a promising young theoretician working on supernovae and the clustering of galaxies. Supernovae are the most energetic explosions of stars, thought to create the elements of which the Earth is composed. The blast wave from the explosion causes x-rays observed by satellites. Hamilton produced the first detailed explanation of the x-rays from one major kind of supernova remnant, substantiating thereby the models for the supernova and for its production of the elements. Hamilton is also interested in problems of cosmology, specifically the manner in which galaxies are clumped in space. He is an expert on both radiation processes and hydrodynamics.
