"CAREER: Astrophysics, Computers, and Education"

9702908摘要-J.Blondin计算机在过去的几年里对天体物理学的研究和教育产生了重要的影响。对现代超级计算机的数值模拟在我们几乎在天体物理学的每一个子领域进行研究的能力方面都取得了长足的进步，从计算混乱的行星轨道到宇宙中大规模结构的形成模型。与此同时，计算机已经成为我们国家教室中日益增长的存在。现在，随着万维网的日益普及，这些计算机正在向世界敞开课堂。这是一个利用计算天体物理学和基于计算机的教育之间的自然联系的项目。该项目的教育方面将利用各种不同的途径，包括在国立大学为非理科本科生开发一个新的以计算机为基础的天文学实验室，创建网站，通过利用数值模拟在视觉上引人注目的结果，向普通公众传达当前天体物理研究的兴奋，在高级物理课程中教授数值方法，以及本科生参与计算天体物理研究。该项目的研究方向将集中在X射线双星质量和角动量转移的流体力学方面。然而，这项工作将产生深远的影响，因为质量传递现象是广泛的双星系统中的一个重要过程。通过研究X射线脉冲星，人们可以对质量和角动量吸积率进行定量测量，人们可以了解罗氏叶溢出、潮汐流撞击、吸积盘形成、盘风等物理学知识。此外，目前来自ASCA、BATSE和XTE等卫星的丰富观测数据将在未来几年极大地加速这一领域的进展，而拟议研究中产生的数值模式将为解释这些新数据提供重要的关键。

AST-9702908 Abstract - J. Blondin Computers have made an important impact on both astrophysics research and education over the last several years. Numerical simulations on modern supercomputers have made great strides in our ability to do research in virtually every subfield of astrophysics, from computing chaotic planetary orbits to the models of the formation of large-scale structure in the Universe. At the same time, computers have become an ever-growing presence in our nation's classrooms. Now, with the increasing popularity of the World Wide Web, those computers are opening up the classroom to the world. This is a project to exploit this natural link between computational astrophysics and computer- based education. The educational aspect of this project will draw on a variety of different avenues, including the development of a new, computer- based astronomy lab at NCSU for non-science undergraduates, the creation of web sites intended to convey the excitement of current astrophysics research to the general public by drawing on the visually striking results of numerical simulations, the teaching on numerical methods in upper-level physics courses, and the involvement of undergraduates in computational astrophysics research. The research aspect of this project will focus on the hydrodynamics of mass and angular momentum transfer in X-ray binary stars. However, this work will have far reaching impact, for the phenomenon of mass transfer is an important process in a wide range of binary star systems. By studying X-ray pulsars, where one has a quantitative measure of both the mass and angular momentum accretion rate, one can learn about the physics of Roche lobe overflow, tidal stream impact, accretion disk formation, disk winds, and much more. Furthermore, the current wealth of observational data from satellites such as ASCA, BATSE, and XTE will greatly accelerate the progress in this fi eld over the next few years, and the numerical models generated in the proposed research will provide an important key to interpreting this new data.