Methods of Celestial Mechanics

G. Beutler's Methods of Celestial Mechanics is a coherent textbook for students in physics, mathematics and engineering as well as an excellent reference for practitioners. This Volume I gives a thorough treatment of celestial mechanics and presents all the necessary mathematical details that a professional would need. After a brief review of the history of celestial mechanics, the equations of motion (Newtonian and relativistic versions) are developed for planetary systems (N-body-problem), for artificial Earth satellites, and for extended bodies (which includes the problem of Earth and lunar rotation). Perturbation theory is outlined in an elementary way from generally known mathematical principles without making use of the advanced tools of analytical mechanics. The variational equations associated with orbital motion - of fundamental importance for parameter estimation (e.g., orbit determination), numerical error propagation, and stability considerations - are introduced and their properties discussed in considerable detail. Numerical methods, especially for orbit determination and orbit improvement, are discussed in considerable depth. The algorithms may be easily applied to objects of the planetary system and to Earth satellites and space debris.

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G. Beutler's Methods of Celestial Mechanics is a coherent textbook for students as well as an excellent reference for practitioners. The first volume gives a thorough treatment of celestial mechanics and presents all the necessary mathematical details that a professional would need. The reader will appreciate the well-written chapters on numerical solution techniques for ordinary differential equations, as well as that on orbit determination. In the second volume applications to the rotation of earth and moon, to artificial earth satellites and to the planetary system are presented. The author addresses all aspects that are of importance in high-tech applications, such as the detailed gravitational fields of all planets and the earth, the oblateness of the earth, the radiation pressure and the atmospheric drag. The concluding part of this monumental treatise explains and details state-of-the-art professional and thoroughly-tested software for celestial mechanics.

Contenu

Physical, Mathematical, and Numerical Principles.- Overview of the Work.- Historical Background.- The Equations of Motion.- The Two- and the Three-Body Problems.- Variational Equations.- Theory of Perturbations.- Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations: Principles and Concepts.- Orbit Determination and Parameter Estimation.