The rectilinear three-body problem

The rectilinear equal-mass and unequal-mass three-body problems are considered. The first part of the paper is a review that covers the following items: regularization of the equations of motion, integrable cases, triple collisions and their vicinities, escapes, periodic orbits and their stability, chaos and regularity of motions. The second part contains the results of our numerical simulations in this problem. A classification of orbits in correspondence with the following evolution scenarios is suggested: ejections, escapes, conditional escapes (long ejections), periodic orbits, quasi-stable long-lived systems in the vicinity of stable periodic orbits, and triple collisions. Homothetic solutions ending by triple collisions and their dependence on initial parameters are found. We study how the ejection length changes in response to the variation of the triple approach parameters. Regions of initial conditions are outlined in which escapes occur after a definite number of triple approaches or a definite time. In the vicinity of a stable Schubart periodic orbit, we reveal a region of initial parameters that corresponds to trajectories with finite motions. The regular and chaotic structure of the manifold of orbits is mostly defined by this periodic orbit. We have studied the phase space structure via Poincaré sections. Using these sections and symbolic dynamics, we study the fine structure of the region of initial conditions, in particular the chaotic scattering region.     

Families of first kind periodic solutions of the spatial and planar elliptic restricted three-body problem with collision

We consider a restricted three-body problem where the primaries are moving in an elliptic collision orbit and the infinitesimal mass moves in a three dimensional space. This paper is devoted to prove analytically the existence of several families of symmetric periodic solutions as continuation of Keplerian circular orbits. In our approach the perturbing parameter is related with the energy of the primaries.     

Periodic orbits of the elliptic restricted problem for the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system

A systematic approach to generate periodic orbits in the elliptic restricted problem of three bodies in introduced. The approach is based on (numerical) continuation from periodic orbits of the first and second kind in the circular restricted problem to periodic orbits in the elliptic restricted problem. Two families of periodic orbits of the elliptic restricted problem are found by this approach. The mass ratio of the primaries of these orbits is equal to that of the Sun-Jupiter system. The sidereal mean motions between the infinitesimal body and the smaller primary are in a 2:5 resonance, so as to approximate the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system. The linear stability of these periodic orbits are studied as functions of the eccentricities of the primaries and of the infinitesimal body. The results show that both stable and unstable periodic orbits exist in the elliptic restricted problem that are close to the actual Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system. However, the periodic orbit closest to the actual Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system is (linearly) stable.     

Evolution of a ‘Class Two’ family of periodic orbits in the general planar problem of three bodies

The elliptic restricted problem of three bodies with unit eccentricity of the primaries is used to generate a family of periodic orbits in the general problem of three bodies. The parameter of the family is the mass of one of the participating bodies. This varies from zero to a termination value. The mass ratio of the primaries of the unperturbed problem (three to five) is maintained throughout the generation of the family. In this way an asymmetry is introduced generalizing the Copenhagen elliptic problem as the generating model. All members of the family experience a close approach and a collision between the primaries during half of the period of the orbit, therefore, the family is classified as Class Two.     

Orbit's Structure in the Isosceles Rectilinear Restricted Three-Body Problem

The isosceles rectilinear restricted three-body problem can be considered as the Sitnikov's problem with eccentricity one or, as the isosceles problem when the central mass is zero and the primaries move having consecutive elliptic collisions. We compactify the phase space and analyze the flow on their boundary. This allows us to separate the phase space into different regions depending on the kind of orbits. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

From the circular to the spatial elliptic restricted three-body problem

We deal with the study of the spatial restricted three-body problem in the case where the small particle is far from the primaries, that is, the so-called comet case. We consider the circular problem, apply double averaging and compute the relative equilibria of the reduced system. It appears that, in the circular problem, we find not only part of the equilibria existing in the elliptic case, but also new ones. These critical points are in correspondence with periodic and quasiperiodic orbits and invariant tori of the non-averaged Hamiltonian. We explain carefully the transition between the circular and the elliptic problems. Moreover, from the relative equilibria of elliptic type, we obtain invariant 3-tori of the original system.     

A computer aided analysis of the Sitnikov Problem

We deal with the problem of a zero mass body oscillating perpendicular to a plane in which two heavy bodies of equal mass orbit each other on Keplerian ellipses. The zero mass body intersects the primaries plane at the systems barycenter. This problem is commonly known as theSitnikov Problem. In this work we are looking for a first integral related to the oscillatory motion of the zero mass body. This is done by first expressing the equation of motion by a second order polynomial differential equation using a Chebyshev approximation techniques. Next we search for an autonomous mapping of the canonical variables over one period of the primaries. For that we discretize the time dependent coefficient functions in a certain number of Dirac Delta Functions and we concatenate the elementary mappings related to the single Delta Function Pulses. Finally for the so obtained polynomial mapping we look for an integral also in polynomial form. The invariant curves in the two dimensional phase space of the canonical variables are investigated as function of the primaries eccentricity and their initial phase. In addition we present a detailed analysis of the linearized Sitnikov Problem which is valid for infinitesimally small oscillation amplitudes of the zero mass body. All computations are performed automatically by the FORTRAN program SALOME which has been designed for stability considerations in high energy particle accelerators.     

Numerical results to the Sitnikov-problem

We present numerical results of the so-called Sitnikov-problem, a special case of the three-dimensional elliptic restricted three-body problem. Here the two primaries have equal masses and the third body moves perpendicular to the plane of the primaries' orbit through their barycenter. The circular problem is integrable through elliptic integrals; the elliptic case offers a surprisingly great variety of motions which are until now not very well known. Very interesting work was done by J. Moser in connection with the original Sitnikov-paper itself, but the results are only valid for special types of orbits. As the perturbation approach needs to have small parameters in the system we took in our experiments as initial conditions for the work moderate eccentricities for the primaries' orbit (0.33e _primaries 0.66) and also a range of initial conditions for the distance of the 3 ^rd body (= the planet) from very close to the primaries orbital plane of motion up to distance 2 times the semi-major axes of their orbit. To visualize the complexity of motions we present some special orbits and show also the development of Poincaré surfaces of section with the eccentricity as a parameter. Finally a table shows the structure of phase space for these moderately chosen eccentricities.     

Application of the Gauss' Method to the Stellar Three Body Problem

In this paper, we deal with the stellar three body problem, that is one star is far away from the other two stars. The outer orbit is assumed to be Keplerian. To analyze the effect of the distant star on the orbit of the close stars, we use the Gauss method; this method consist in replacing the gravitational attraction of the third star by the gravitational attraction of an infinitesimal non-homogeneous elliptic ring. We obtain the force vector for the Gauss method in terms of elliptic integrals. Finally we compare the results obtained by this model with the classical third body model. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Families of symmetric relative periodic orbits originating from the circular Euler solution in the isosceles three-body problem

We study symmetric relative periodic orbits in the isosceles three-body problem using theoretical and numerical approaches. We first prove that another family of symmetric relative periodic orbits is born from the circular Euler solution besides the elliptic Euler solutions. Previous studies also showed that there exist infinitely many families of symmetric relative periodic orbits which are born from heteroclinic connections between triple collisions as well as planar periodic orbits with binary collisions. We carry out numerical continuation analyses of symmetric relative periodic orbits, and observe abundant families of symmetric relative periodic orbits bifurcating from the two families born from the circular Euler solution. As the angular momentum tends to zero, many of the numerically observed families converge to heteroclinic connections between triple collisions or planar periodic orbits with binary collisions described in the previous results, while some of them converge to “previously unknown” periodic orbits in the planar problem.     

Numerical experiments on planetary orbits in double stars

This is a numerical study of orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem concerning the dependence of the critical orbits on the eccentricity of the primaries. They are defined as being the separatrix between stable and unstable single periodic orbits. As our results are adapted to the existence of planetary orbits in double stars we concentrated first on the P-orbits (defined to surround both primaries). Due to the complexity of the elliptic problem there is no analytical approach possible. Using the results of some 300 integrated orbits for 10³ to 3. 10³ periods of the primaries we established lower and upper bounds for the critical orbits for different values of the eccentricity.     

Triple collisions in the one-dimensional three-body problem

We consider the motions of particles in the one-dimensional Newtonian three-body problem as a function of initial values. Using a mapping of orbits to symbol sequences we locate the initial values leading to triple collisions. These turn out to form curves which give clear structure to the region in which the motions depend sensitively on initial conditions. In addition to finding the triple collision orbits we also locate orbits which end up to a triple collision in both directions of time, that is, orbits which are finite both in space and time. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bounded orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem

Special solutions of the planar rectilinear elliptic restricted 3-body problem are investigated for the limiting case e=1. Numerical integration is performed for primaries of equal masses. Starting values which define circular orbit solutions lead to bounded solutions if the initial radius a₀ is larger than 3.74 in units of the primaries' semimajor axis a. A comparison with the Eulerian two-fixedcentre problem is presented in order to understand qualitatively the characteristic features of bounded orbits and the transition to escape orbits.     

Stability of generalized elliptic restricted four body problem with radiation and oblateness effects

This paper studies the existence and stability of non-collinear equilibrium points in the elliptic restricted four body problem with bigger primary as a source of radiation and other two primaries having equal masses as oblate spheroid. In the elliptic restricted four body problem, three of the bodies are moving in elliptical orbit around their common centre of mass fixed at the origin of the coordinate system, while the fourth one is infinitesimal. Three pairs of non-collinear points are obtained symmetric with respect to x-axis. We found the equilibrium points are stable in linear sense. We also investigate the pulsating zero velocity surfaces and basin of attraction for varying value of oblateness coefficient and radiation pressure parameter.     

Short Time Lyapunov Indicators in the Restricted Three-Body Problem

We applied the method of the short time Lyapunov indicators to the planar circular and to the planar elliptic restricted three-body problem in order to study the structure of the phase space in some selected regions. In the circular case we computed the short-time averages of the stretching numbers to distinguish between regular and chaotic domains of the phase space. The results obtained in this way are in good agreement with the corresponding Poincaré's surface of sections. Using the short time Lyapunov indicators we determined the detailed structure of the phase space in the semi-major axis-eccentricity plane of the test particle both in the circular and in the elliptic restricted problem (in the latter case for some values of the eccentricities of the primaries) and we studied the main features of the phase space.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An application of the Nekhoroshev theorem to the restricted three-body problem

We studied the stability of the restricted circular three-body problem. We introduced a model Hamiltonian in action-angle Delaunay variables. which is nearly-integrable with the perturbing parameter representing the mass ratio of the primaries. We performed a normal form reduction to remove the perturbation in the initial Hamiltonian to higher orders in the perturbing parameter. Next we applied a result on the Nekhoroshev theorem proved by Pöschel [13] to obtain the confinement in phase space of the action variables (related to the elliptic elements of the minor body) for an exponentially long time. As a concrete application. we selected the Sun-Ceres-Jupiter case, obtaining (after the proper normal form reduction) a stability result for a time comparable to the age of the solar system (i.e., 4.9 · 10⁹ years) and for a mass ratio of the primaries less or equal than 10^–6.     

Resonant Periodic Orbits of Trans-Neptunian Objects

We study two and three-dimensional resonant periodic orbits, usingthe model of the restricted three-body problem with the Sun andNeptune as primaries. The position and the stability character ofthe periodic orbits determine the structure of the phase space andthis will provide useful information on the stability and longterm evolution of trans-Neptunian objects. The circular planarmodel is used as the starting point. Families of periodic orbitsare computed at the exterior resonances 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 withNeptune and these are used as a guide to select the energy levelsfor the computation of the Poincaré maps, so that all basicresonances are included in the study. Using the circular planarmodel as the basic model, we extend our study to more realisticmodels by considering an elliptic orbit of Neptune and introducingthe inclination of the orbit. Families of symmetric periodicorbits of the planar elliptic restricted three-body problem andthe three-dimensional problem are found. All these orbitsbifurcate from the families of periodic orbits of the planarcircular problem. The stability of all orbits is studied. Althoughthe resonant structure in the circular problem is similar for allresonances, the situation changes if the eccentricity of Neptuneor the inclination of the orbit is taken into account. All theseresults are combined to explain why in some resonances there aremany bodies and other resonances are empty.     

A note on the elliptic restricted three-body problem

This work considers periodic solutions, arc-solutions (solutions with consecutive collisions) and double collision orbits of the plane elliptic restricted problem of three bodies for =0 when the eccentricity of the primaries,e _p , varies from 0 to 1. Characteristic curves of these three kinds of solutions are given.     

Integration of the elliptic restricted three-body problem with Lie series

The method of Lie series is used to construct a solution for the elliptic restricted three body problem. In a synodic pulsating coordinate system, the Lie operator for the motion of the third infinitesimal body is derived as function of coordinates, velocities and true anomaly of the primaries. The terms of the Lie series for the solution are then calculated with recurrence formulae which enable a rapid successive calculation of any desired number of terms. This procedure gives a very useful analytical form for the series and allows a quick calculation of the orbit.The project is supported by the Austrian Fonds zur Förderung der wissénschaftlichen Forschung under Project No. 4471.