Classical Newtonian Gravity and Potential Theory: A Comprehensive Introduction, with Examples and Exercises (UNITEXT for Physics)

This book offers a readily comprehensible introduction to classical Newtonian gravitation and potential theory, which are fundamental for understanding classical mechanics and particularly relevant to astrophysics.This enlarged and updated second edition introduces two new chapters, various newly developed exercises, and a comprehensive index.The opening chapter reviews essential elements of vector calculus and analysis, providing the formalism used in subsequent chapters.In Chapter 2, the theory of classical Newtonian gravity for a single point mass and a generic number N of point masses is presented and discussed, extending naturally to the continuous case.Chapter 3 addresses the paradigmatic case of spherical symmetry in mass density distribution (central force), introducing the useful tool of qualitative motion analysis.Chapter 4 deals with astrophysical applications, like, for instance the Jeans’ theory of gravitational instability.The following chapter discusses the general case