Speaker:  Prof. Brett Gladman, Department of Physics & Astronomy, UBC

URL for Speaker:  https://www.phas.ubc.ca/users/brett-gladman

Location:  LSK 460

Intended Audience:  Public

I will review concepts of ‘stability’ related to the dynamics of the planetary system, including the historical methods of tackling the age-old question of whether our Solar System is stable.  For simplified problems (mostly with the Sun and two particles in orbit about it) there are rigorous criteria for some types of stability.  For the ‘planetary’ problem, modern studies are dominated by numerical studies that surf the edge of dynamical chaos; I will provide perspective on these most recent studies, which limit our knowledge of the future of the Solar System.