In the age of technology and information, data calculations and visualizations are key to the communication and understanding of the world in which we live. It is sometimes difficult to display data in a way to make it clear and understanding, or is difficult to calculate the data to be displayed. The N-body problem has elements of both. The N-body problem is a set of N particles representing stars that move in response to the gravitational force generated by the N-1 other particles. There have been many attacks to this problem. The GRAPEcluster Project of RIT has developed software and hardware to display these systems in images and film. The movies provide a wealth of information, but there are properties in the videos that cannot be seen, compared, or studied. The purpose of this project is to be able to show some of these physical properties in a way that can offer insight into the properties and behaviors of particle systems, to allow the comparison of the properties of different systems to be more easily done.
Department, Program, or Center
Computer Science (GCCIS)
McLaughlin, William, "N-Body visualizations" (2006). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
RIT – Main Campus