N-body simulations and the solar system
by
Philip W. Sharp
University of Auckland

Simulations of N bodies interacting are used extensively to model the dynamics of the solar system and its sub-systems. Important uses of the simulations include the generation of ephemerides of the planets and satellites, and the study of the evolution of the main asteroid belt, Kuiper's belt and Oort's cloud.

Most N-body simulations require the numerical solution of an initial value problem of second order ordinary differential equations. These problems often require large amounts of CPU time or very accurate integrations, making them challenging problems to solve. I will use several simulations to illustrate these challenges and present a comparison between some numerical methods.

Date received: September 28, 2000