Chaos, Regularity, and Noise in Self-Gravitating Systems

1994/10/28 by Henry E. Kandrup, Kandrup, Henry E.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD) #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Statistical Mechanics and Entropy

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9410091

openalex publication_date 1994/10/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

This paper summarises a number of new, potentially significant, results, obtained recently by the author and his collaborators, which impact on various issues related to the gravitational N-body problem, both Newtonianly and in the context of general relativity. Topics addressed include: (1) direct N-body simulations and their interpretation, with reference to the observed exponential instability towards small changes in initial conditions and the phenomenon of ``nonviolent relaxation;'' (2) the Hamiltonian structure of the collisionless Boltzmann equation of general relativity, i.e., the Vlasov-Einstein system; (3) ``transient ensemble dynamics,'' i.e.,,the short time statistical characterisation of collections of orbits in nonintegrable mean field potentials; and (4) the structural stability of the smooth potential approximation typically used in galactic dynamics.

Related

• Stochastic Dynamics Toward the Steady State of Self-Gravitating Systems
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• Dynamical models and numerical simulations of incomplete violent relaxation