Mercury's Precession: Calculation Methods

This lecture covers two methods to calculate Mercury's precession: the straightforward trajectory integration and the perturbation theory. The first method involves complex computations to determine the procession angle, while the second method simplifies the calculation by treating the general relativity correction as a perturbation. The lecture explains the steps involved in both approaches, including deriving differential equations, solving them using perturbation theory, and analyzing the impact of corrections on the trajectory. Additionally, the lecture discusses the redshift phenomenon near a black hole, stable satellite orbits, and innermost stable circular orbits. Students are guided through various calculations and analyses to deepen their understanding of these celestial mechanics concepts.