Robert Vanderbei | Princeton University
address: ORFE, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
phone: 609.258.0876 | email: rvdb@princeton.edu
website: http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/


Title: Optimization Problems Arising in Optics and Mechanics

Abstract
In this talk, I will discuss two application areas for optimization that I have been interested in recently.
First, I will describe how optimization proves to be useful in discovering new orbits for the n-body problem. In particular, I will discuss and illustrate the recently popular choreographic solutions in which all the bodies have the same mass and trace out the same orbit.
The second area is in optical design. Currently, various design concepts are being investigated for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) space telescope which is slated for launch sometime in the middle of the next decade. High contrast imaging is the main issue for resolving terrestrial planets. One promising concept is a visible light coronagraph in which obscurating difraction is controlled by appropriately shaping the telescope's entrance pupil. I will show how modern optimization plays a crucial role in designing appropriately shaped pupils.