Chandrasekhar and modern stellar dynamics

• Published in: Fluid Flows To Black Holes pp. 137 - 149
• Main Author: Evans, N. W.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: WORLD SCIENTIFIC 01.12.2011
• Subjects: general – Galaxy; kinematics and dynamics – galaxies; celestial mechanics – stellar dynamics – galaxies; stellar populations

Stellar dynamics occupied Chandrasekhar’s interest for a brief interlude between his more prolonged studies of stellar structure and radiative transfer. This paper traces the history of one of his ideas – namely, that the shape of the galactic potential controls the orientation of the stellar veloci...