Statistical mechanics of self gravitating N body systems

There have been many attempts to apply the powerful tools of statistical mechanics to self gravitating N body systems such as star clusters galaxies and planetary systems I will describe why this is difficult some notable failures and successes and recent work on two arenas where these tools may offer new insight: the distribution of young stars in the central parsec of our Galaxy and the distribution of orbits of exoplanets Refreshments are served at 3:20pm