Both the high level of activity in worldwide space exploration programmes and the discovery of extrasolar planets have spurred renewed interest in the physics and evolution dynamics of solar systems. This work has grown out of a set of lectures by experts in the field within the framework of the EADN summer schools. It addresses primarily graduate students and young researchers but should be equally useful for scientists in search of a comprehensive tutorial account that goes beyond the material found in standard textbooks.

Both the high level of activity in worldwide space exploration programmes and the discovery of extra-solar planets have spurred renewed interest in the physics and evolution dynamics of solar systems. The present book has grown out of a set of lectures by leading experts in the field within the framework of the well-known EADN summer schools. It addresses primarily graduate students and young researchers but will be equally useful for scientists in search of a comprehensive tutorial account that goes beyond the material found in standard textbooks.