SPH Calculations of Collisions between Main-Sequence Stars

The hydrodynamics of collisions and mergers of main-sequence stars is discussed in the light of recent 3-D calculations using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. Theoretical models for the formation of blue stragglers are reviewed in the context of recent comparisons between the observed properties of blue stragglers in dense globular clusters and the predictions of those models.