Since it was first published in 1987, Galactic Dynamics has become the most widely used advanced textbook on the structure and dynamics of galaxies and one of the most cited references in astrophysics. Now, in this extensively revised and updated edition, James Binney and Scott Tremaine describe the dramatic recent advances in this subject, making Galactic Dynamics the most authoritative introduction to galactic astrophysics available to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers. Every part of the book has been thoroughly overhauled, and many sections have been completely rewritten. Many new topics are covered, including N-body simulation methods, black holes in stellar systems, linear stability and response theory, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context. Binney and Tremaine, two of the world's leading astrophysicists, use the tools of theoretical physics to describe how galaxies and other stellar systems work, succinctly and lucidly explaining theoretical principles and their applications to observational phenomena. They provide readers with an understanding of stellar dynamics at the level needed to reach the frontiers of the subject. This new edition of the classic text is the definitive introduction to the field.A complete revision and update of one of the most cited references in astrophysicsProvides a comprehensive description of the dynamical structure and evolution of galaxies and other stellar systemsServes as both a graduate textbook and a resource for researchersIncludes 20 color illustrations, 205 figures, and more than 200 problemsCovers the gravitational N-body problem, hierarchical galaxy formation, galaxy mergers, dark matter, spiral structure, numerical simulations, orbits and chaos, equilibrium and stability of stellar systems, evolution of binary stars and star clusters, and much moreCompanion volume to Galactic Astronomy, the definitive book on the phenomenology of galaxies and star clusters.
Author(s): James Binney, Scott Tremaine
Series: Princeton Series in Astrophysics
Edition: 2
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Year: 2008
Language: English
Commentary: Completed and indexed
Pages: XVI; 856
City: Princeton & Oxford
Title Page
Contents
Preface
1 Introduction
1.1 An overview of the observations
1.2 Collisionless systems and the relaxation time
1.3 The cosmological context
Problems
2 Potential Theory
2.1 General results
2.2 Spherical systems
2.3 Potential-density pairs for flattened systems
2.4 Multipole expansion
2.5 The potentials of spheroidal and ellipsoidal systems
2.6 The potentials of disks
2.7 The potential of our Galaxy
2.8 Potentials from functional expansions
2.9 Poisson solvers for N-body codes
Problems
3 The Orbits of Stars
3.1 Orbits in static spherical potentials
3.2 Orbits in axisymmetric potentials
3.3 Orbits in planar non-axisymmetric potentials
3.4 Numerical orbit integration
3.5 Angle-action variables
3.6 Slowly varying potentials
3.8 Orbits in elliptical galaxies
Problems
4 Equilibria of Collisionless Systems
4.1 The collisionless Boltzmann equation
4.2 Jeans theorems
4.3 DFs for spherical systems
4.4 DFs for axisymmetric density distributions
4.5 DFs for razor-thin disks
4.6 Using actions as arguments of the DF
4.7 Particle-based and orbit-based models
4.8 The Jeans and virial equations
4.9 Stellar kinematics as a mass detector
4.10 The choice of equilibrium
Problems
5 Stability of Collisionless Systems
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The response of homogeneous systems
5.3 General theory of the response of stellar systems
5.4 The energy principle and secular stability
5.5 The response of spherical systems
5.6 The stability of uniformly rotating systems
Problems
6 Disk Dynamics and Spiral Structure
6.1 Fundamentals of spiral structure
6.2 Wave mechanics of differentially rotating disks
6.3 Global stability of differentially rotating disks
6.4 Damping and excitation of spiral structure
6.5 Bars
6.6 Warping and buckling of disks
Problems
7 Kinetic Theory
7.1 Relaxation processes
7.2 General results
7.3 The thermodynamics of self-gravitating systems
7.4 The Fokker-Planck approximation
7.5 The evolution of spherical stellar systems
7.6 Summary
Problems
8 Collisions and Encounters of Stellar Systems
8.1 Dynamical friction
8.2 High-speed encounters
8.3 Tides
8.5 Mergers
Problems
9 Galaxy Formation
9.1 Linear structure formation
9.2 Nonlinear structure formation
9.3 N-body simulations of clustering
9.4 Star formation and feedback
9.5 Conclusions
Problems
Appendices
Appendix A: Useful numbers
Appendix B: Mathematical background
Appendix C: Special functions
Appendix D: Mechanics
Appendix E: Delaunay variables for Kepler orbits
Appendix F: Fluid mechanics
Appendix G: Discrete Fourier transforms
Appendix H: The Antonov-Lebovitz theorem
Appendix I: The Doremus{Feix{Baumann theorem
Appendix J: Angular-momentum transport in disks
Appendix K: Derivation of the reduction factor
Appendix L: The di usion coecients
Appendix M: The distribution of binary energies
References
