Description

Starting from ancient astronomy, this text follows the development of celestial mechanics culminating in applications of the most recent results concerning stability of planetary orbits: Kolmogorov's and Nekhoroshev's theorems. Key topics covered include: a historical introduction from ancient astronomy to Kepler and Newton; Lagrange's perturbation theory; the problem of three bodies, with a discussion of Levi-Civita regularization and of Sundman's theorem; methods of algebraic calculation of perturbation series, including a discussion of non-convergence due to the accumulation of small divisors; and a complete application of Kolmogorov's and Nekhoroshev's theorems. Written in an accessible, self-contained way with few prerequisites, this book can serve as an introductory text for senior undergraduate and graduate students, and for young researchers. Its approach allows students to learn about perturbation methods leading to advanced results.