Introduction to stellar dynamics Luca Ciotti, University of Bologna

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ciotti, Luca, 1964- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stellar dynamics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom New York, NY Cambridge University Press 2021

Summary:

"The study of stellar dynamics is experiencing an exciting new wave of interest thanks to observational campaigns and the ready availability of powerful computers. Whilst its relevance includes many areas of astrophysics, from the structure of the Milky Way to dark matter halos, few texts are suited to advanced students. This volume provides a broad overview of the key concepts beyond the elementary level, bridging the gap between the standard texts and specialist literature. The author reviews Newtonian gravity in depth before examining the dynamical properties of collisional and collisionless stellar-dynamical systems that result from gravitational interactions. Guided examples and exercises ensure a thorough grounding in the mathematics, while discussions of important practical applications give a complete picture of the subject. Readers are given a sound working knowledge of the fundamental ideas and techniques employed in the field and the conceptual background needed to progress to more advanced graduate-level treatises"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Title page

Copyright information

Contents

Preface

Part I Potential Theory

1 The Gravitational Field

1.1 The Gravitational Field of a Point Mass and of Extended Distributions

1.2 Newton's First and Second Theorems

1.3 The Gauss Theorem and the Gravitational Field

Exercises

2 The Gravitational Potential

2.1 The Gravitational Potential

2.2 Newton's Third Theorem

2.3 Multipole Expansion

2.4 The Green Function for the Poisson Equation

3 Tidal Fields

3.1 The Tidal Potential and the Tidal Field

3.2 Rigid Bodies in Tidal Fields

3.3 Stellar Orbits in Tidal Fields

4 The Two-Body Problem

4.1 Center of Mass and the Reduced Mass

4.2 The Slingshot Effect

4.3 The Laplace-Runge-Lenz Vector

5 Quasi-Circular Orbits

5.1 Orbits in Axisymmetric Potentials

5.2 Second-Order Epicyclic Approximation

5.3 Oort's Constants

Part II Systems of Particles

6 The N-Body Problem and the Virial Theorem

6.1 The N-Body Problem and the Lagrange-Jacobi Identity

6.2 The Scalar Virial Theorem

7 Relaxation 1: Two-Body Relaxation

7.1 The Granular Nature of Stellar Systems

7.2 The Impulsive Approximation

7.3 Relaxation Time for Self-Gravitating Systems

8 Relaxation 2: Dynamical Friction

8.1 The Chandrasekhar Formula

8.2 Dynamical Friction in the Presence of a Mass Spectrum

8.3 Astrophysical Applications and Final Comments

Part III Collisionless Systems

9 The Collisionless Boltzmann Equation and the Jeans Theorem

9.1 The Liouville Equation

9.2 The Collisionless Boltzman Equation

9.3 Integrability and the Jeans Theorem

Exercises

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on June 13, 2021)

Other Format:

Print version Ciotti, Luca, 1964- Introduction to stellar dynamics

ISBN:

9780511736117

0511736118

9781009040303

1009040308

OCLC:

1200834024

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license