Our group specializes in the use of computational hydrodynamics to study astrophysical objects on the stellar scale.  This research ranges from idealized problems such as Hoyle-Lyttleton accretion and isothermal shock instabilities to detailed studies of specific astronomical objects including SN 1987A, Kepler's SNR, and Her X-1.  Working with other faculty at NC State, a primary focus of our research is supernova remnants.  We also collaborate with the theoretical astrophysics group at UT/ORNL, investigating the role of multidimensional hydrodynamics in driving core-collapse supernovae.  This work led to the discovery of the Spherical Accretion Shock Instability (SASI) and its role in spinning up the proto-neutron star at the center of a supernova explosion.  A third focus of our work is the study of gas dynamics in close binary star systems.  This includes the global dynamics of accretion disks, mass transfer in semi-detached systems, stellar winds and wind accretion.

We make extensive use of large, parallel supercomputers, including Ranger at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, Kraken at the National Institute for Computational Science, and Jaguar at the National Center for Computational Sciences.

We work closely with undergraduate student researchers, including participants in the NSF REU program, Undergraduate Research in Computational Astrophysics, or URCA.