A numerical investigation of the one-dimensional newtonian three-body problem

Numerical orbit integrations have been conducted to characterize the types of trajectories in the one-dimensional Newtonian three-body problem with equal masses and negative energy. Essentially three different types of motions were found to exist. They may be classified according to the duration of the bound three-body state. There are zero-lifetime predictable trajectories, finite lifetime apparently chaotic orbits, and infinite lifetime quasi-periodic motions. The quasi-periodic orbits are confined to the neighbourhood of Schubart's stable periodic orbit. For all other trajectories the final state is of the type binary + single particle in both directions of time. The boundaries of the different orbit-type regions seem to be sharp. We present statistical results for the binding energies and for the duration of the bound three-body state. Properties of individual orbits are also summarized in the form of various graphical maps in a two-dimensional grid of parameters defining the orbit. Supported by the Academy of Finland.     

Nonlinear theory of low frequency geomagnetic pulsations

The nonlinear equations for Alfvén waves in magnetospheric plasma are studied taking the influence of hot particles into account. It is shown that oscillations are localized in regions where the pressure of hot ions has local minima. The theoretical results are applied to the problem of generation of geomagnetic pulsations in the magnetospheric plasma.     

On the radial intermediaries and the time transformation in satellite theory

Taking advantage of the radial intermediaries and the regularization and linearization methods, the zonal Earth satellite theory is studied in the polar nodal canonical set of variables (, , ,R, ¡,N).The variable is eliminated in the first order of the Hamiltonian by applying Deprit's method. Then, the elimination of the perigee is carried out by another canonical transformation. As a consequence, a new radial intermediary, which contains all theJ _2n(n1) harmonics, is given. A comparison with the previous radial intermediaries of Cid and Lahulla, Deprit and Alfriend and Coffey is made.Finally, a regularizing transformation which allows us to linearize part of the radial intermediary is proposed, and an analytical study of this process is presented.     

Nonlinear density fluctuation field theory for large scale structure

We develop an effective field theory of density fluctuations for a Newtonian self-gravitating N-body system in quasi-equilibrium and apply it to a homogeneous uni-verse with small density fluctuations. Keeping the density fluctuations up to second or-der, we obtain the nonlinear field equation of 2-pt correlation ξ(r), which contains 3-pt correlation and formal ultra-violet divergences. By the Groth-Peebles hierarchical ansatz and mass renormalization, the equation becomes closed with two new terms beyond the Gaussian approximation, and their coefficients are taken as parameters. The analytic solu-tion is obtained in terms of the hypergeometric functions, which is checked numerically.With one single set of two fixed parameters, the correlation ξ(r) and the corresponding power spectrum P(k) simultaneously match the results from all the major surveys, such as APM, SDSS, 2dfGRS, and REFLEX. The model gives a unifying understanding of several seemingly unrelated features of large scale structure from a field-theoretical per-spective. The theory is worth extending to study the evolution effects in an expanding universe.     

Nonlinear theory of secular perturbations of satellites of an oblate planet

Anonlinear analytical theory of secular perturbations in the problem of the motion of a systemof small bodies around a major attractive center has been developed. Themutual perturbations of the satellites and the influence of the oblateness of the central body are taken into account in the model. In contrast to the classical Laplace-Lagrange theory based on linear equations for Lagrange elements, the third-degree terms in orbital eccentricities and inclinations are taken into account in the equations. The corresponding improvement of the solution turns out to be essential in studying the evolution of orbits over long time intervals. A program inC has been written to calculate the corrections to the fundamental frequencies of the solution and the third-degree secular perturbations in orbital eccentricities and inclinations. The proposed method has been applied to investigate the motion of the major Uranian satellites. Over time intervals longer than 100 years, allowance for the nonlinear terms in the equations is shown to give corrections to the coordinates of Miranda on the order of the orbital eccentricity, which is several thousand kilometers in linear measure. For other satellites, the effect of allowance for the nonlinear terms turns out to be smaller. Obviously, when a general analytical theory of motion for the major Uranian satellites is constructed, the nonlinear terms in the equations for the secular perturbations should be taken into account.     

Translatory-rotatory motion of a gyrostat in a newtonian force field

The paper deals with a system made of two gyrostats attracting one another according to Newton's law. The Hamiltonian is expressed in the modified canonical variables of Delaunay and Serret-Andoyer. After straightforward eliminations and changes of variables, the problem is integrated in a particular case to the first order of perturbation by means of an infinitesimal contact transformation.     

A numerical investigation of the one-dimensional newtonian three-body problem II. Positive energies

Numerical orbit integrations have been conducted to characterize the types of trajectories in the one-dimensional Newtonian three-body problem with equal masses and positive energy. At positive energies the basic types of motions are binary + single particle and ionization, and when time goes from – to + all possible transitions between these states can take place. Properties of individual orbits have been summarized in the form of graphical maps in a two-dimensional grid of initial values. The basic motion types exist at all positive energies, but the binary + single particle configuration is obtained only in a narrow region of initial values if the total energy is large. At very large energies the equations of motion can be solved approximately, and this asymptotic result, exact in the limit of infinite energy, is presented.     

The periodic solution of a rigid body in a central newtonian field

The equations of motion of a rigid body about a fixed point in a central Newtonian field is reduced to the equation of plane motion under the action of potential and gyroscopic forces, using the isothermal coordinates on the inertia ellipsoid.The construction of periodic solutions nearby equilibrium points, by using the Liapunov theorem of holomorphic integral are obtained and the necessary and sufficient conditions for the stability of the system are given.     

Interplanetary radar time delay in an arbitrary theory of gravitation

Expressions for the interplanetary radar time delay in the one-body problem of an arbitrary gravitational theory are deduced. The structure of the theory enters the result through two functions of one variable,f(r) andq(r), always connected by an identity.     

Nonlinear perturbation theory for cosmic ray propagation in random magnetic fields

A nonlinear perturbation theory is applied to the problem of pitch angle diffusion of energetic particles in random magnetic fields. To keep the analysis simple, the discussion is restricted to fluctuation fields, consisting of Alfvén waves. It is shown that the failure of quasilinear theory at small particle velocities parallel to the average field can be overcome by a statistically exact treatment of the particle orbits in the first order fields. In fact, for spherical power spectra which, in addition, do not fall off too steeply with increasing frequency, the conventional perturbation theory also leads to formally convergent expressions for the scattering mean free path. These results are shown to be quite satisfactory, even in a quantitative sense. For more general physically realistic power spectra, however, a divergence-free diffusion theory is indispensible. A simple representation for the resulting pitch-angle diffusion coefficient is suggested.     

Using the transition to action variables of the newtonian problem in the numerical solution of the N-body problem

We propose an approach for overcoming the problem of close encounters in collisional systems, globular and open star clusters. As is well known, the numerical integration step in such systems, for example, during the formation of close binary stars, begins to fragment and the rate of calculations goes down to a complete stop. We show that using the perturbation theory in the proposed approach, one can isolate the singularity and to increase considerably the integration step without losing the physical effects that affect significantly the evolution of star clusters.     

Shift in the bifurcation points of rotating magnetized newtonian polytropes caused by a magnetic field

Criteria are formulated for determining the critical points and bifurcation points of rotating, magnetized, newtonian polytropes, which coincide in the absence of a magnetic field. The magnitude of the shift in these points is estimated in terms of the flatness parameter e and rotation speed ε. The dependence of the total energy of a polytrope near the bifurcation and critical points is calculated as a function of the asymmetry parameters X for the distribution of mass relative to the axis of rotation and of the rotation speed ε for ε ≪ 1. The stability of the rotating polytrope with respect to the parameter X is analyzed. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 321–327 (May 2008).     

The theory of asynchronous relative motion I: time transformations and nonlinear corrections

Using alternative independent variables in lieu of time has important advantages when propagating the partial derivatives of the trajectory. This paper focuses on spacecraft relative motion, but the concepts presented here can be extended to any problem involving the variational equations of orbital motion. A usual approach for modeling the relative dynamics is to evaluate how the reference orbit changes when modifying the initial conditions slightly. But when the time is a mere dependent variable, changes in the initial conditions will result in changes in time as well: a time delay between the reference and the neighbor solution will appear. The theory of asynchronous relative motion shows how the time delay can be corrected to recover the physical sense of the solution and, more importantly, how this correction can be used to improve significantly the accuracy of the linear solutions to relative motion found in the literature. As an example, an improved version of the Clohessy-Wiltshire (CW) solution is presented explicitly. The correcting terms are extremely compact, and the solution proves more accurate than the second and even third order CW equations for long propagations. The application to the elliptic case is also discussed. The theory is not restricted to Keplerian orbits, as it holds under any perturbation. To prove this statement, two examples of realistic trajectories are presented: a pair of spacecraft orbiting the Earth and perturbed by a realistic force model; and two probes describing a quasi-periodic orbit in the Jupiter-Europa system subject to third-body perturbations. The numerical examples show that the new theory yields reductions in the propagation error of several orders of magnitude, both in position and velocity, when compared to the linear approach.     

Nonlinear time series analysis of the light curves from the black hole system GRS 1915+105

GRS 1915+105 is a prominent black hole system exhibiting variability over a wide range of time scales and its observed light curves have been classified into 12 temporal states. Here we undertake a complete analysis of these light curves from all the states using various quantifiers from nonlinear time series analysis, such as the correlation dimension (D2), the correlation entropy (K2), singular value decomposition (SVD) and the multifractal spectrum (f(α) spectrum). An important aspect of our analysis is ...