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 astrophysics

• Provides a comprehensive description of the dynamical structure and evolution of galaxies and other stellar systems

• Serves as both a graduate textbook and a resource for researchers

• Includes 20 color illustrations, 205 figures, and more than 200 problems

• Covers 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 more

• Companion volume to Galactic Astronomy, the definitive book on the phenomenology of galaxies and star clusters

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Potential Theory

3 The Orbits of Stars

4 Equilibria of Collisionless Systems

5 Stability of Collisionless Systems

6 Disk Dynamics and Spiral Structure

7 Kinetic Theory

8 Collisions and Encounters of Stellar Systems

9 Galaxy Formation

Review

"Henceforth, one must have a copy of Binney and Tremaine's classic in order to do astrophysics. . . . We will all study from it and come to know it better than the Bible."―John N. Bahcall, Institute for Advanced Study

"I consider Galactic Dynamics to be the most important single book published in the field of astronomy in the last ten years. In its subject, it is the most important book published in a generation."―William Press, Harvard University

About the Authors

James Binney is professor of physics at the University of Oxford. His books include Galactic Astronomy.

Scott Tremaine is the Richard Black Professor of Astrophysics at the Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Both are fellows of the Royal Society.