The three-body problem

Mauri Valtonen, Hannu Karttunen9780521852241, 0521852242

How do three celestial bodies move under their mutual gravitational attraction? This problem has been studied by Isaac Newton and leading mathematicians over the last two centuries. Poincaré’s conclusion, that the problem represents an example of chaos in nature, opens the new possibility of using a statistical approach. For the first time this book presents these methods in a systematic way, surveying statistical as well as more traditional methods. This book should be essential reading for students in a rapidly expanding field and is suitable for students of celestial mechanics at advanced undergraduate and graduate level.