Couldn't researchers just adopt basic fission calculations to work for this application?
I mean its fundamentally the same problem. Large particles being impacted by smaller particles causing them to emit more smaller particles. I tried to work though this yesterday, but I'm not sure how to translate the free-space constant to orbital-scale units.
At the very minimum, the elasticity is completely different. Also, in one case particles are hold within a lattice, while on the other they are completely free to move in any direction. And there are orbits to think about, while on the other case the deciding factor is particles leaving the lattice...
Well, I don't think calculations would look any alike.
From the preservative of satellites (and items ejected from them) in the same orbit, they're motions are fixed to each other. They only appear in motion from a 3rd party observer on the ground, or in a different orbital.
I mean its fundamentally the same problem. Large particles being impacted by smaller particles causing them to emit more smaller particles. I tried to work though this yesterday, but I'm not sure how to translate the free-space constant to orbital-scale units.