Gravitational Thermodynamics
Astrophysics
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
The gravitational N-body problem, for , is the oldest unsolved problem in mathematical physics. Some of the most ideal examples that can be found in nature are globular star clusters, with . In this overview, I discuss six types of fundamental sources of unpredictability, each of which poses a different challenge to attempts to determine the long-term behavior of these systems, governed by a peculiar type of thermodynamics.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9704286,
title = {Gravitational Thermodynamics},
author = {Piet Hut},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9704286},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
19 pages, 5 included figures, Tex, uses psfig.tex. To appear in `Complexity', as part of the Proceedings of the Workshop on Fundamental Sources of Unpredictability, held at the Santa Fe Institute, March 28-30, 1996, eds. James Hartle, Piet Hut, and Joseph Traub