A COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH TO CHANDRASEKHAR'S PLANETARY PROBLEM,

Abstract

Chandrasekhar's planetary problem is reformulated using an initial-value approach. The problem concerns the diffuse reflection of radiation from a finite atmosphere with a reflecting surface at the bottom. In the direct problem, the angular distribution of multiple-scattered radiation is computationally obtained as the solution of an initial-value problem for ordinary differential equations for S, a generalization of the Chandrasekhar scattering function for an inhomogeneous atmosphere. In the inverse planetary problem, the properties of the atmosphere and the surface are to be estimated, given the angular distribution of scattered radiation. The quasilinearization technique for nonlinear multipoint boundary-value problems provides an effective method for obtaining a computational solution to the inverse problem. A FORTRAN program for both the direct and inverse problems is presented in the Appendix. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0632231

Entities

People

  • Harriet H. Kagiwada
  • Richard E. Bellman
  • Robert E. Kalaba
  • S. Ueno

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Value Problems
  • Differential Equations
  • Diffuse Reflection
  • Equations
  • Inverse Problems
  • Mathematical Analysis
  • Mathematics
  • Radiation
  • Reflection
  • Scattering
  • Wave Phenomena

Fields of Study

  • Mathematics
  • Physics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.