Speaker: Aaron Rosengren, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
Title: Mathematical Aspects of Satellite Orbit Prediction
Abstract:
Orbital mechanics is an applied science devoted to the understanding of the dynamical behavior of real objects, both natural or artificial. The models for which have to be as complete and realistic as possible, often in synergy with physics. Even though orbital mechanics has evolved in its scope and tools, the ultimate goal it to understand why certain motions occur. Modern day researchers in the field must be equally conversant with numerical and analytical techniques. In this talk, I will show that the circumterrestrial orbits of satellites and space debris possess an extraordinarily rich spectrum of dynamical behaviors, and, from a mathematical perspective, have all the complications that make them very interesting candidates for testing the modern tools of chaos theory. This work provides (real) physics-based models to understand phenomena such as chaotic diffusion and the bifurcation characteristics of nonlinear dynamics. This research ties together observation, theory, and simulation, and fosters connections between fields apparently quite different in character and emphasis. In fact, orbital mechanics is a kaleidoscope of pure and applied sciences and supports a wide spectrum of research projects, working synergistically with computer aided simulations.
Bio. Aaron J. Rosengren is an Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona and Affiliate Member of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Applied Mathematics, specializing in astrodynamics-based space situational awareness. In his first year at UA, he received the "Junior Faculty Award for Excellence at the Student Interface" in recognition of his teaching efforts. Prior to joining UA and the SSA-Arizona Initiative in 2017, he spent one year at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece working in the Department of Physics, as part of the European Union H2020 Project ReDSHIFT. He has also served as a member of the EU Asteroid and Space Debris Network, Stardust, working for two years at the Institute of Applied Physics Nello Carrara of the Italian National Research Council. His research interests include space situational awareness, orbital debris, celestial mechanics, and planetary science. He twice received the "COSPAR Outstanding Paper Award For Young Scientists" and his recent manuscript co-authored with J. Daquin and colleagues was nominated by Springer-Nature as one of the "180 groundbreaking articles that could help change the world."