| Sverre Aarseth | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1934-07-20)20 July 1934 |
| Died | December 28, 2024 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Known for | N-body dynamics |
| Awards | Brouwer Award (1998) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge |
| Doctoral students | |
Sverre Johannes Aarseth, (20 July 1934 – 28 December 2024) was a research scientist at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. Aarseth spent his retirement as an active researcher. He dedicated his career to the development of N-body codes ("a code" in astrophysical jargon refers to a computer program or library or a group thereof). He is the author of the NBODY family of codes, the current iteration is NBODY7. His areas of research included the effects of stellar evolution in N-body codes, the influence of black holes on stellar systems, the evolution of globular clusters, and the use of GPUs 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 for his work on advancing dynamical astronomy. The asteroid 9836 Aarseth is named in his honour.
Outside of research, Aarseth's interests included mountaineering, trekking and wildlife. He is also a keen chess player, and was awarded the title International Master for Correspondence in 1981. Aarseth died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 90.
References
- Aarseth, A. J. (2012). "Mergers and ejections of black holes in globular clusters". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 422 (1): 841–848. arXiv:1202.4688. Bibcode:2012MNRAS.422..841A. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20666.x. S2CID 62826586.
- "code". Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- Aarseth, A. J. (2012). "Mergers and ejections of black holes in globular clusters". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 422 (1): 841–848. arXiv:1202.4688. Bibcode:2012MNRAS.422..841A. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20666.x. S2CID 62826586.
- Institute for Advanced Study: A Community of Scholars
- "List of Brouwer Award Winners". American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- "Sverre's Interests". Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- "International Correspondence Chess Federation International Masters" (PDF). International Correspondence Chess Federation. November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- "Sverre Aarseth, father of open source stellar dynamics software, has passed on to a higher orbit – ASCL.net". 7 January 2025. Retrieved 10 January 2025.