Sverre Johannes Aarseth, (born 20 July 1934) is a research scientist at the
Institute of Astronomy at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. Although retired, Aarseth is still an active researcher. He has dedicated his career to the development of
''N''-body codes. He is the author of the NBODY family of codes, the current iteration is NBODY7. His current areas of research include the effects of
stellar evolution
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is cons ...
in ''N''-body codes, the influence of
black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
s on stellar systems, the evolution of
globular cluster
A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...
s, and the use of
GPUs
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
to increase the speed of his codes.
Aarseth was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1986-87. He was awarded the 1998
Brouwer Award
The Brouwer Award is awarded annually by the Division on Dynamical Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of dynamical astronomy. The prize is named for Dirk Brouwer.
Recipients
Source ...
for his work on advancing dynamical astronomy. The asteroid
9836 Aarseth is named in his honour.
Outside of research, Aarseth's interests include mountaineering, trekking and wildlife. He is also a keen chess player, and was awarded the title
International Master for Correspondence in 1981.
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References
External links
Sverre Aarseth's homepage''N''-body page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarseth, Sverre
Living people
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
20th-century British astronomers
Astronomers at the University of Cambridge
1934 births
Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom