1. A method, comprising: receiving at least a portion of a tree data structure that represents a tree having a plurality of nodes; and processing, via a tree traversal operation algorithm executed by a tree traversal unit of a processor, one or more nodes of the tree data structure by intersecting the one or more nodes of the tree data structure with a query data structure, wherein a first local coordinate system associated with a first node of the plurality of nodes and a second local coordinate system associated with a second node of the plurality of nodes are encoded in the tree data structure, wherein the first node is an ancestor of the second node in a hierarchy of the tree data structure, wherein the first local coordinate system and the second local coordinate system are specified relative to a global coordinate system, and wherein the tree traversal unit includes a scheduler unit, a setup unit, one or more traversal units, and local storage for a plurality of query data structures and a plurality of stack data structures.