Article ID: CBB198631506

Early application of kinetic theory of gases to star clusters (2022)

unapi

This is a case of working by analogy to apply successful work from one field, the kinetic theory of gases, to another field, the distribution of stars in globular clusters. The origin of the analogy lies in Henri Poincaré reading a vague suggestion by Lord Kelvin and recognizing the interest and potential value of this suggestion. The result is the application of mechanics to the dynamics of clusters with very many stars. A good idea, even a very clever good idea, still takes significant work to elaborate in all its implications. Here we see assumptions that lead to partial success in providing a relation between the density of stars in a cluster and the distance from the center. Partial success motivated work using assumptions that were less restrictive. We follow the assumptions and work through 1916, when work paused for many years.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB198631506/

Similar Citations

Chapter Heinzmann, Gerhard; (2009)
Hypotheses and Conventions in Poincaré (/isis/citation/CBB001032107/)

Article Dolecki, M.; (2007)
Scientific Research of Ludwik Bruner (1871--1913) on Chemical Kinetics (/isis/citation/CBB000931656/)

Article Boyd, T. James M.; (2012)
George Hartley Bryan, Ludwig Boltzmann, and the Stability of Flight (/isis/citation/CBB001220405/)

Article Wess, Jane; (2010)
Crookes's Radiometers: A Train of Thought Manifest (/isis/citation/CBB001022727/)

Article Demopoulos, William; Frappier, Melanie; Bub, Jeffrey; (2012)
Poincaré's “Les conceptions nouvelles de la matière” (/isis/citation/CBB001211049/)

Article Folina, Janet; (1994)
Poincaré on mathematics, intuition, and the foundation of science (/isis/citation/CBB000069591/)

Chapter Walter, Scott; (2009)
Hypothesis and Convention in Poincaré's Defense of Galilei Spacetime (/isis/citation/CBB001032108/)

Article Videira, Antonio Augusto Passos; (1997)
Poincaré e as hipóteses indiferentes (/isis/citation/CBB000079734/)

Article Sanzo, Ubaldo; (1997)
Contro l'ontologia: Poincaré e le ipotesi scientifiche (/isis/citation/CBB000082218/)

Article Smith, Horace A.; (2000)
Bailey, Shapley, and Variable Stars in Globular Clusters (/isis/citation/CBB000671364/)

Book Stephen Gaukroger; (2020)
Civilization and the Culture of Science: Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1795-1935 (/isis/citation/CBB316506913/)

Article S. Mohammad Mozaffari; (2022)
An analysis of Ibn al-Shāṭir’s star table (/isis/citation/CBB218902011/)

Chapter F. Richard Stephenson; Wayne Orchiston; Ihsan Hafez; (2015)
The Investigation of Stars, Star Clusters and Nebulae in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī’s Book of the Fixed Stars (/isis/citation/CBB905552875/)

Article Ole Schou; (2023)
Tycho Brahe’s observations of Præsepe Cancri (/isis/citation/CBB416960539/)

Article Katya P. Tsvetkova; Milcho K. Tsvetkov; (2018)
Investigations of Flare Stars in Stellar Clusters and Associations at the Astronomical Institute of Muenster University (/isis/citation/CBB266341182/)

Book Russell, Colin Archibald; Hudson, John A.; (2012)
Early Railway Chemistry and Its Legacy (/isis/citation/CBB001251876/)

Chapter Janet Folina; (2014)
Poincaré and the Invention of Convention (/isis/citation/CBB627819901/)

Authors & Contributors
Folina, Janet
Tsvetkova, Katya P.
Tsvetkov, Milcho K.
Ole Schou
Ihsan Hafez
Wess, Jane A.
Concepts
Explanation; hypotheses; theories
Stars; stellar astronomy
Star clusters
Celestial maps; star catalogs
Applied science
Kinetic theory
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
18th century
Medieval
20th century
16th century
Places
Great Britain
Cracow (Poland)
France
Institutions
Universität Münster
Mount Wilson Observatory
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment