Relative equilibria and the virial theorem

A solution of the Newtoniann-body problem for which the moment of inertia (with respect to the centre of mass) is constant is a solution of relative equilibrium.Research supported in part by NSF grant MCS-77-01716.     

Jacobi Dynamics And The N-Body Problem With Variable Masses

An appropriate generalization of the Jacobi equation of motion for the polar moment of inertia I is considered in order to study the N-body problem with variable masses. Two coupled ordinary differential equations governing the evolution of I and the total energy E are obtained. A regularization scheme for this system of differential equations is provided. We compute some illustrative numerical examples, and discuss an average method for obtaining approximate analytical solutions to this pair of equations. For a particular law of mass loss we also obtain exact analytical solutions. The application of these ideas to other kind of perturbed gravitational N-body systems involving drag forces or a different type of mass variation is also considered. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hip-hop solutions of the 2N-body problem

Hip-hop solutions of the 2N-body problem with equal masses are shown to exist using an analytic continuation argument. These solutions are close to planar regular 2N-gon relative equilibria with small vertical oscillations. For fixed N, an infinity of these solutions are three-dimensional choreographies, with all the bodies moving along the same closed curve in the inertial frame.     

On the number of central configurations in the N-body problem

Central configurations are critical points of the potential function of the n-body problem restricted to the topological sphere where the moment of inertia is equal to constant. For a given set of positive masses m ₁,..., m _n we denote by N(m ₁, ..., m _n, k) the number of central configurations' of the n-body problem in ^k modulus dilatations and rotations. If m _{n 1},..., m _n, k) is finite, then we give a bound of N(m ₁,..., m _n, k) which only depends of n and k.     

Invariant sets and polhodes in the rigid body problem

In this work we will describe the sets in the rigid body phase space where the energy and angular momentum are constant, and it will turn out that in nontrivial cases they will simply take the form of cartesian products of the polhodes byS ¹. These sets are important for the global study of said geodesic mechanical system for being invariant under Euler's equations (energy and momentum are constant along their solutions).To motivate from something more familiar in celestial mechanics, we will begin to relate the problem to Smale's study of the planarn-body problem (Smale, 1970) and Easton's study of the planar 3-body problem (Easton, 1971), exemplifying in particular with the central force problem.In the last Sections 4 and 5, we extent our methods to give results for generalized solids on Lie groups, mentioning the further extensions to transitive mechanical systems.Proceedings of the Sixth Conference on Mathematical Methods in Celestial Mechanics held at Oberwolfach (West Germany) from 14 to 19 August, 1978.This work was partially supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (México) under grant PNCB-049.     

Periodic orbits accumulating onto elliptic tori for the (<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> + 1)-body problem

We prove the existence of infinitely many periodic solutions, with larger and larger minimal period, accumulating onto elliptic invariant tori for (an “outer solar-system” model of) the planar (N + 1)-body problem.      

The bifurcation of periodic orbits of the planar circular restrictedN-body problem to the three-dimensional generalN-body problem

It is proved that the vertical critical orbits of the planar circular restricted three-body problem can be used as starting points for finding periodic orbits of the three-dimensional generalN-body problem. A numerical example is given.     

Central configurations of four bodies with one inferior mass

The number of equivalence classes of central configurations (abbr. c.c.) in the planar 4-body problem with three arbitrary and a fourth small mass is investigated. These c.c. are derived according to their generic origin in the 3-body problem. It is shown that each 3-body collinear c.c. generates exactly 2 non-collinear c.c. (besides 4 collinear ones) of 4 bodies with smallm ₄0; and that any 3-body equilateral triangle c.c. generates exactly 8 or 9 or 10 (depending onm ₁,m ₂,m ₃) planar 4-body c.c. withm ₄=0. Further, every one of these c.c. can be continued uniquely to sufficiently smallm ₄>0 except when there are just 9; then exactly one of them is degenerate, and we conjecture that it is not continuable tom ₄>0.Paper presented at the 1981 Oberwolfach Conference on Mathematical Methods in Celestial Mechanics.     

On the planar syzygy solutions of the 3-body problem

Relations between the rectilinear, collinear and syzygy solutions of the N-body problem are first pointed out. It is shown that, along a solution, the set of the non-collinear syzygy configuration instants is formed by isolated points. Then we restrict the study to the planar 3-body problem and prove that for Dirichlet-stable solutions, a non-syzygy solution cannot be as close as possible to a syzygy one. It is also true that, in the case of a syzygy solution, the orbit of one particle crosses the line of the other two and can not be tangent to this line in the transition point. Finally we prove that the set of initial conditions leading to non-collinear syzygy solutions is non-empty and open.     

On the oscillations in Mercury's obliquity

Mercury's capture into the 3:2 spin–orbit resonance can be explained as a result of its chaotic orbital dynamics. One major objective of MESSENGER and BepiColombo spatial missions is to accurately measure Mercury's rotation and its obliquity in order to obtain constraints on internal structure of the planet. Analytical approaches at the first-order level using the Cassini state assumptions give the obliquity constant or quasi-constant. Which is the obliquity's dynamical behavior deriving from a complete spin–orbit motion of Mercury simultaneously integrated with planetary interactions? We have used our SONYR model (acronym of Spin–Orbit N-bodY Relativistic model) integrating the spin–orbit N-body problem applied to the Solar System (Sun and planets). For lack of current accurate observations or ephemerides of Mercury's rotation, and therefore for lack of valid initial conditions for a numerical integration, we have built an original method for finding the libration center of the spin–orbit system and, as a consequence, for avoiding arbitrary amplitudes in librations of the spin–orbit motion as well as in Mercury's obliquity. The method has been carried out in two cases: (1) the spin–orbit motion of Mercury in the 2-body problem case (Sun–Mercury) where an uniform precession of the Keplerian orbital plane is kinematically added at a fixed inclination (S_2K case), (2) the spin–orbit motion of Mercury in the N-body problem case (Sun and planets) (S_n case). We find that the remaining amplitude of the oscillations in the S_n case is one order of magnitude larger than in the S_2K case, namely 4 versus 0.4 arcseconds (peak-to-peak). The mean obliquity is also larger, namely 1.98 versus 1.80 arcminutes, for a difference of 10.8 arcseconds. These theoretical results are in a good agreement with recent radar observations but it is not excluded that it should be possible to push farther the convergence process by drawing nearer still more precisely to the libration center. We note that the dynamically driven spin precession, which occurs when the planetary interactions are included, is more complex than the purely kinematic case. Nevertheless, in such a N-body problem, we find that the 3:2 spin–orbit resonance is really combined to a synchronism where the spin and orbit poles on average precess at the same rate while the orbit inclination and the spin axis orientation on average decrease at the same rate. As a consequence and whether it would turn out that there exists an irreducible minimum of the oscillation amplitude, quasi-periodic oscillations found in Mercury's obliquity should be to geometrically understood as librations related to these synchronisms that both follow a Cassini state. Whatever the open question on the minimal amplitude in the obliquity's oscillations and in spite of the planetary interactions indirectly acting by the solar torque on Mercury's rotation, Mercury remains therefore in a stable equilibrium state that proceeds from a 2-body Cassini state.     

Periodic solutions of circular-elliptic type in the planarN-body problem

Letn2 mass points with arbitrary masses move circularly on a rotating straight-line central-configuration; i.e. on a particular solution of relative equilibrium of then-body problem. Replacing one of the mass points by a close pair of mass points (with mass conservation) we show that the resultingN-body problem (N=n+1) has solutions, which are periodic in a rotating coordinate system and describe precessing nearlyelliptic motion of the binary and nearlycircular collinear motion of its center of mass and the other bodies; assuming that also the mass ratio of the binary is small.     

Practical considerations in the numerical solution of theN-body problem by Taylor series methods

It is shown that in the numerical integration ofN-body problems, as much importance should be given to considerations of the computer programming language to be used as to questions of the accummulation of round-off and truncation error, the stability of the method chosen and the problem being treated. By careful programming processing time may be cut by a factor of 2 or 3 which is an important consideration in extended numerical investigations. The relative usefulness of differing strategies for determining the step size is discussed and in addition the usefulness is shown of treatingN-body problems by a Taylor series method.     

New stacked central configurations for the planar 5-body problem

A stacked central configuration in the n-body problem is one that has a proper subset of the n-bodies forming a central configuration. In this paper we study the case where three bodies with masses m ₁, m ₂, m ₃ (bodies 1, 2, 3) form an equilateral central configuration, and the other two with masses m ₄, m ₅ are symmetric with respect to the mediatrix of the segment joining 1 and 2, and they are above the triangle generated by {1, 2, 3}. We show the existence and non-existence of this kind of stacked central configurations for the planar 5-body problem.     

Chaos in N-body systems

Here is a selection of applications of what is now called theory of dynamical systems in galactic dynamics and N-body systems. The study of chaotic motions in potentials used as a model for elliptical galaxies is a first example of these applications. The interest in this problem stems from the fact that there are now many theoretical and observational evidences that the overall potentials of galaxies are indeed non-integrable. There are classes of objects, for example small and intermediate luminosity elliptical galaxies, for which the presence of the famous third integral is not necessary or others in which we observe peculiarities in their photometry or kinematics. We address here some of these issues and their implications in modifying our current understanding of the structure and evolution of galaxies.More in general, there is the natural question of how the systems we see have settled to their present status and what would happen if some external cause perturbs it. This issue is related to the question of the stochasticity involved in the general N-body dynamics, especially when N is very large. An N-body dynamical system is definitely chaotic, as shown by several numerical investigations, at least for N not very large. However, this statement must be reconciled with the picture of non-collisional equilibrium of big systems. The second part of this review presents a survey of numerical experiments and an interpretation of the results obtained using standard chaoticity indicators.     

Particle Dynamics in a Maxwell’s Ring-Type Configuration with a Radiating Central Primary

Maxwell’s ring-type configuration (i.e. an N-body model where the ν = Ν − 1 bodies have equal masses and are located at the vertices of a regular ν-gon while the N-th body with a different mass is located at the center of mass of the system) has attracted special attention during the last 15 years and many aspects of it have been studied by considering Newtonian and post-Newtonian potentials (Mioc and Stavinschi 1998, 1999), homographic solutions (Arribas et al. 2007) and relative equilibrium solutions (Elmabsout 1996), etc. An equally interesting problem, known as the ring problem of (N + 1) bodies, deals with the dynamics of a small body in the combined force field produced by such a configuration. This is the problem we are dealing with in the present paper and our aim is to investigate the variations in the dynamics of the small body in the case that the central primary is also a radiating source and therefore acts on the particle with both gravitation and radiation. Based on the general outlines of Radzievskii’s model, we study the permitted and the existing trapping regions of the particle, its equilibrium locations and their parametric variations as well as the existence of focal points in the zero-velocity diagrams. The distribution of the characteristic curves of families of planar symmetric periodic orbits and their stability for various values of the radiation coefficient of the central body is additionally investigated.     

The circular restricted four-body problem

By generalizing the restricted three-body problem, we introduce the restricted four-body problem. We present a numerical study of this problem which includes a study of equilibrium points, regions of possible motion and periodic orbits. Our main motivation for introducing this problem is that it can be used as an intermediate step for a systematic exploration of the genral four-body problem. In an analogous way, one may introduce the restrictedN-body problem.     

New doubly-symmetric families of comet-like periodic orbits in the spatial restricted (N + 1)-body problem

For any positive integer N ≥ 2 we prove the existence of a new family of periodic solutions for the spatial restricted (N +1)-body problem. In these solutions the infinitesimal particle is very far from the primaries. They have large inclinations and some symmetries. In fact we extend results of Howison and Meyer (J. Diff. Equ. 163:174–197, 2000) from N = 2 to any positive integer N ≥ 2.      

Investigation of dynamical chaotization in stellar systems with double massive centers using the Ricci curvature criterion

The Ricci curvature criterion is used to investigate the relative instability of various configurations of N-body gravitational systems. Systems with double massive centers are shown to be less stable than homogeneous systems or systems with single massive centers. In general, this is a confirmation that the Ricci curvature criterion is efficient in studying N-body systems by means of relatively simple computations.     

Magnetic Monopoles in the Early Universe: Pair Production

Magnetic monopoles and antimonopoles with masses M=10¹⁶ Gev and charges q=68.5e in the early universe are considered. Pair production may occur as a result of their Coulomb interaction. Some conditions for formation of such pairs are discussed. In particular, numerical simulations of three particle collisions are carried out. Probabilities for pair production are found in terms of the N-body problem.     

The existence of families of periodic orbits in theN-body problem

It is proved that monoparametric families of periodic orbits of theN-body problem in the plane, for fixed values of all masses, exist in a rotating frame of reference whosex axis contains always two of the bodiesP ₁ andP ₂. A periodic motion of theN-body problem is obtained as a continuation ofN–2 symmetric periodic orbits of the circular restricted three-body problem whose periods are in integer dependence, by increasing the masses of the originallyN–2 massless bodiesP ₃, ...,P _k. The analytic continuation, for sufficiently small values of theN–2 bodiesP ₃ ...P _k and finite values for the masses ofP ₁ andP ₂ has been proved by the continuation method and the solution itself has been found explicitly to a linear approximation in the small masses. Also, the possible application of the above periodic orbits to the study of the Solar system and of stellar systems is mentioned.