Interactions also trigger some starbursts, and we are investigating the relationship between these two phenomena. We employ numerical simulations of colliding galaxies and analytical studies of the physics of the central regions of galaxies to obtain a detailed model that can be compared to observations of these systems. PHY98-96019 Methods from field theory and string theory were applied to processes in the early universe, in particular to inflationary models which produce open universes. The spectrum of scalar fields and gravity waves for a set of models proposed by Hawking and Turok were calculated. Supercurvature modes for a massless field have been expressed in terms of more familiar flat-space modes.
Current work is on inflationary model building.
These wave forms can only be predicted by large-scale numerical computations. If such simulated wave forms are to be made available to the LIGO community in a timely fashion, a significant effort to compute them must be continued now. A code for evolving Einstein's equations in three spatial dimensions and with no special symmetries assumed is needed to produce binary coalescence simulations. The researchers will construct such a code to solve the problem of coalescing compact binaries. We are working on the theoretical foundations of CMB anisotropy formation and the interface between theory and experiment in this highly active field.