Physical Society Colloquium

In this talk, I describe how numerical simulations can be used to study the formation of astrophysical objects, using two examples. The first is the huge blobs of hot, X-ray emitting gas called X-ray clusters. These structures, more than a trillion times the mass of our own sun, are seen to immense distances and can be used to map out the universe. I show how they can also be employed to probe fundamental properties of physics. The second example is the formation of the first stars in the universe - understanding when they form and what can be learned from them.

Monday, May 7th 2001, 11:00
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, Board Room (room 104)