Application of a massively parallel computer to the N-body problem

Parallel processor computers represent a new technology that has recently become available for astronomical applications. We have implemented an N-body code on a TMC Connection Machine CM-2 in order to investigate the advantages of a massively parallel computer over serial machines, including conventional supercomputers. For collisionless problems following N stars, a direct integration code scales as O(N²) on serial machines and on the CM-2 as O(log(N)) for small N and O(N log(N)) for large N. The CM-2 outperforms workstations for N>50 and supercomputers for N>4000.