Seminar in Celestial Mechanics

Seminar in Celestial Mechanics
MATH 392-02
O'Neil 123
SPRING 2008

Orbits taken from Chris Moore's gallery of n-body orbits.

How to succeed in this course:

Attend the lectures, participate and ask questions

Do your homework regularly

Work with your classmates

Read the texts

Dr. Gareth Roberts

Office: SWORDS 326
Phone: 508-793-2350
Office hours: Mon., 2 - 3, Wed. 1 - 2, Tues. & Thurs. 11 - 12, or by appointment.

Class Picture

Important Information

Syllabus (PDF File)

Calendar (PDF File)

Texts: Celestial Mechanics by Harry Pollard, Carus Mathematical Monographs, No. 18, published by the MAA
Celestial Mechanics: The Waltz of the Planets by Alessandra Celletti and Ettore Perozzi, published by Springer-Praxis Books

Departmental Statement on Academic Integrity (PDF File)

College Academic Honesty Policy (PDF File)

Note: Some of the material for this course is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0708741. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Homework (PDF Files. All assignments due at the START of class.)

Assignment 1 (due Jan. 24)

Assignment 2 (due Jan. 31) Solution to problem #3

Assignment 3 (due Feb. 7)

Assignment 4 (due Feb. 14)

Assignment 5 (due Feb. 21)

Assignment 6 (due Feb. 28)

Assignment 7 (due March 18)

Assignment 8 (due March 27)

Assignment 9 (due April 3)

Assignment 10 (due April 10)

In-Class Presentations

Final Project (pdf file) Schedule

Useful and Fun Links

Linear Stability in the N-Body Problem (Slides -- PDF file)

Special orbits in the 3-body problem (Eugene Butikov)

Chris Moore's gallery of n-body orbits

ODE software (Java or Matlab versions by John Polking)

MathWorld (online mathematics encyclopedia)

Kepler Comic

The Klein Four Math Acapella Group

Web Links for Mathematics/Mathematicians History

The Greek Alphabet (Learn how to say and write the symbols frequently found in mathematics literature.)

Holy Cross Math/CS Club

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