computational astrophysics

Computers are heavily used to model astrophysical phenomena, and computational astrophysics is an umbrella-term for the specific computational physics methods relevant to and/or tailored to astrophysics. Among model targets are stars, star formation, disks (e.g., protoplanetary disks), galaxies, galaxy formation, galaxy clusters, black holes, compact objects, and cosmological simulations of a significant portion of a universe. Methods include N-body simulation, semi-analytic model, adaptive mesh refinement, smoothed-particle hydrodynamics, and hydrodynamics models. See list of software and list of codes for example software.