Computing with certainty individual members of families of periodic orbits of a given period

The accurate computation of families of periodic orbits is very important in the analysis of various celestial mechanics systems. The main difficulty for the computation of a family of periodic orbits of a given period is the determination within a given region of an individual member of this family which corresponds to a periodic orbit. To compute with certainty accurate individual members of a specific family we apply an efficient method using the Poincaré map on a surface of section of the considered problem. This method converges rapidly, within relatively large regions of the initial conditions. It is also independent of the local dynamics near periodic orbits which is especially useful in the case of conservative dynamical systems that possess many periodic orbits, often of the same period, close to each other in phase space. The only computable information required by this method is the signs of various function evaluations carried out during the integration of the equations of motion. This method can be applied to any system of celestial mechanics. In this contribution we apply it to the photogravitational problem.     

On the periodic solutions of a particular Lame equation

We consider the Hill's equation: % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGGipm0dc9vqaqpepu0xbbG8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaWaaSaaaeaaca% WGKbWaaWbaaSqabeaacaaIYaaaaOGaeqOVdGhabaGaamizaiaadsha% daahaaWcbeqaaiaaikdaaaaaaOGaey4kaSYaaSaaaeaacaWGTbGaai% ikaiaad2gacqGHRaWkcaaIXaGaaiykaaqaaiaaikdaaaGaam4qamaa% CaaaleqabaGaaGOmaaaakiaacIcacaWG0bGaaiykaiabe67a4jabg2% da9iaaicdaaaa!4973!\[\frac{{d^2 \xi }}{{dt^2 }} + \frac{{m(m + 1)}}{2}C^2 (t)\xi = 0\]Where C(t) = Cn (t, {frbuilt|1/2}) is the elliptic function of Jacobi and m a given real number. It is a particular case of theame equation. By the change of variable from t to defined by: % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGGipm0dc9vqaqpepu0xbbG8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaqcaawaaOWaaiqaaq% aabeqaamaalaaajaaybaGaamizaGGaaiab-z6agbqaaiaadsgacaWG% 0baaaiabg2da9OWaaOaaaKaaGfaacaGGOaqcKbaG-laaigdajaaycq% GHsislkmaaleaajeaybaGaaGymaaqaaiaaikdaaaqcaaMaaeiiaiaa% bohacaqGPbGaaeOBaOWaaWbaaKqaGfqabaGaaeOmaaaajaaycqWFMo% GrcqWFPaqkaKqaGfqaaaqcaawaaiab-z6agjab-HcaOiab-bdaWiab% -LcaPiab-1da9iab-bdaWaaakiaawUhaaaaa!51F5!\[\left\{ \begin{array}{l}\frac{{d\Phi }}{{dt}} = \sqrt {(1 - {\textstyle{1 \over 2}}{\rm{ sin}}^{\rm{2}} \Phi )} \\\Phi (0) = 0 \\\end{array} \right.\]it is transformed to the Ince equation: (1 + · cos(2)) y + b · sin(2) · y + (c + d · cos(2)) y = 0 where % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGGipm0dc9vqaqpepu0xbbG8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaqcaawaaiaadggacq% GH9aqpcqGHsislcaWGIbGaeyypa0JcdaWcgaqaaiaaigdaaeaacaaI% ZaGaaiilaiaabccacaWGJbGaeyypa0Jaamizaiabg2da9aaacaqGGa% WaaSaaaKaaGfaacaWGTbGaaiikaiaad2gacqGHRaWkcaaIXaGaaiyk% aaqaaiaaiodaaaaaaa!4777!\[a = - b = {1 \mathord{\left/{\vphantom {1 {3,{\rm{ }}c = d = }}} \right.\kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {3,{\rm{ }}c = d = }}{\rm{ }}\frac{{m(m + 1)}}{3}\]In the neighbourhood of the poles, we give the expression of the solutions.The periodic solutions of the Equation (1) correspond to the periodic solutions of the Equation (3). Magnus and Winkler give us a theory of their existence. By comparing these results to those of our study in the case of the Hill's equation, we can find the development in Fourier series of periodic solutions in function of the variable and deduce the development of solutions of (1) in function of C(t).     

Computing periodic orbits of the three-body problem: Effective convergence of Newton’s method on the surface of section

We consider Newton’s method for computing periodic orbits of dynamical systems as fixed points on a surface of section and seek to clarify and evaluate the method’s uncertainty of convergence. Several fixed points of various multiplicities, both stable and unstable are computed in a new version of Hill’s problem. Newton’s method is applied with starting points chosen randomly inside the maximum possible—for any method—circle of convergence. The employment of random starting points is continued until one of them leads to convergence, and the process is repeated a thousand times for each fixed point. The results show that on average convergence occurs with very few starting points and non-converging iterations being wasted.     

Approximate general solution of 2-degrees of freedom dynamical systems using `les solutions precieuses'

This paper presents the procedure of a computational scheme leading to approximate general solution of the axi-symmetric,2-degrees of freedom dynamical systems. Also the results of application of this scheme in two such systems of the non-linear double oscillator with third and fifth order potentials in position variables. Their approximate general solution is constructed by computing a dense set of families of periodic solutions and their presentation is made through plots of initial conditions. The accuracy of the approximate general solution is defined by two error parameters, one giving a measure of the accuracy of the integration and calculation of periodic solutions procedure, and the second the density in the initial conditions space of the periodic solutions calculated. Due to the need to compute families of periodic solutions of large periods the numerical integrations were carried out using the eighth order, variable step, R-K algorithm, which secured for almost all results presented here conservation of the energy constant between 10^-9 and 10^-12 for single runs of any and all solutions. The accuracy of the approximate general solution is controlled by increasing the number of family curves and also by `zooming' into parts of the space of initial conditions. All families of periodic solutions were checked for their stability. The computation of such families within areas of `deterministic chaos' did not encounter any difficulty other than poorer precision. Furthermore, on the basis of the stability study of the computed families, the boundaries of areas of `order' and `chaos' were approximately defined. On the basis of these results it is concluded that investigations in thePoincaré sections have to disclose 3 distinct types of areas of `order' and 2 distinct types of areas of `chaos'. Verification of the `order'/`chaos' boundary calculation was made by working out several Poincaré surfaces of sections. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Three-dimensional bifurcations of periodic solutions around the triangular equilibrium points of the restricted three-body problem

Vertically critical, planar periodic solutions around the triangular equilibrium points of the Restricted Three-Body Problem are found to exist for values of the mass parameter in the interval [0.03, 0.5]. Four series of such solutions are computed. The families of three-dimensional periodic solutions that branch off these critical orbits are computed for µ = 0.3 and are continued till their end. All orbits of these families are unstable.     

On the vertical families of two-dimensional tori near the triangular points of the Bicircular problem

This paper focuses on some aspects of the motion of a small particle moving near the Lagrangian points of the Earth–Moon system. The model for the motion of the particle is the so-called bicircular problem (BCP), that includes the effect of Earth and Moon as in the spatial restricted three body problem (RTBP), plus the effect of the Sun as a periodic time-dependent perturbation of the RTBP. Due to this periodic forcing coming from the Sun, the Lagrangian points are no longer equilibrium solutions for the BCP. On the other hand, the BCP has three periodic orbits (with the same period as the forcing) that can be seen as the dynamical equivalent of the Lagrangian points. In this work, we first discuss some numerical methods for the accurate computation of quasi-periodic solutions, and then we apply them to the BCP to obtain families of 2-D tori in an extended neighbourhood of the Lagrangian points. These families start on the three periodic orbits mentioned above and they are continued in the vertical (z and ż) direction up to a high distance. These (Cantor) families can be seen as the continuation, into the BCP, of the Lyapunov family of periodic orbits of the Lagrangian points that goes in the (z, ż) direction. These results are used in a forthcoming work [9] to find regions where trajectories remain confined for a very long time. It is remarkable that these regions seem to persist in the real system. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the families of periodic orbits which bifurcate from the circular Sitnikov motions

In this paper we deal with the circular Sitnikov problem as a subsystem of the three-dimensional circular restricted three-body problem. It has a first analytical part where by using elliptic functions we give the analytical expressions for the solutions of the circular Sitnikov problem and for the period function of its family of periodic orbits. We also analyze the qualitative and quantitative behavior of the period function. In the second numerical part, we study the linear stability of the family of periodic orbits of the Sitnikov problem, and of the families of periodic orbits of the three-dimensional circular restricted three-body problem which bifurcate from them; and we follow these bifurcated families until they end in families of periodic orbits of the planar circular restricted three-body problem. We compare our results with the previous ones of other authors on this problem. Finally, the characteristic curves of some bifurcated families obtained for the mass parameter close to 1/2 are also described.     

On the variational approach to the periodic n-body problem

This expository paper gathers some of the results obtained by the author in recent works in collaboration with Davide Ferrario and Vivina Barutello, focusing on the periodic n-body problem from the perspective of the calculus of variations and minimax theory. These researches were aimed at developing a systematic variational approach to the equivariant periodic n-body problem in the two and three-dimensional space. The purpose of this paper is to expose the main problems and achievements of this approach. The material here was exposed in the talk that given at the Meeting CELMEC IV promoted by SIMCA (Società italiana di Meccanica Celeste).     

Efficient Method for Computing with Certainty Periodic Orbits on a Surface of Section

We present an improved method for locating periodic orbits of a dynamical system of arbitrary dimension. The method first employs the characteristic bisection method (CBM) to roughly locate a periodic orbit, followed by the quadratically convergent Newton method to rapidly refine its position. The method is applied to the physically interesting example of the two degrees of freedom photogravitational problem, and shown to surpass the CBM algorithm and Newton's method alone.     

The general solution of the HENON–HEILES problem

The general solution of the Henon–Heiles system is approximated inside a domain of the (x, C) of initial conditions (C is the energy constant). The method applied is that described by Poincaré as ‘the only “crack” permitting penetration into the non-integrable problems’ and involves calculation of a dense set of families of periodic solutions that covers the solution space of the problem. In the case of the Henon–Heiles potential we calculated the families of periodic solutions that re-enter after 1–108 oscillations. The density of the set of such families is defined by a pre-assigned parameter ε (Poincaré parameter), which ascertains that at least one periodic solution is computed and available within a distance ε from any point of the domain (x, C) for which the approximate general solution computed. The approximate general solution presented here corresponds to ε = 0.07. The same solution is further improved by “zooming” into four square sub-domain of (x, C), i.e. by computing sufficient number of families that reduce the density parameter to ε = 0.003. Further zooming to reduce the density parameter, say to ε = 10⁻⁶, or even smaller, although easily performable in both areas occupied by stable as well as unstable solutions, was found unnecessary. The stability of all members of each and all families computed was calculated and presented in this paper for both the large solution domain and for the sub-domains. The correspondence between areas of the approximate general solution occupied by stable periodic solutions and Poincaré sections with well-aligned section points and also correspondence between areas occupied by unstable solutions and Poincaré sections with randomly scattered section points is shown by calculating such sections. All calculations were performed using the Runge-Kutta (R-K) 8th order direct integration method and the large output received, consisting of many thousands of families is saved as “Atlas of the General Solution of the Henon–Heiles Problem,” including their stability and is available at request. It is concluded that approximation of the general solution of this system is straightforward and that the chaotic character of its Poincaré sections imposes no limitations or difficulties.     

The manifolds of families of 3D periodic orbits associated to Sitnikov motions in the restricted three-body problem

This paper deals with the Sitnikov family of straight-line motions of the circular restricted three-body problem, viewed as generator of families of three-dimensional periodic orbits. We study the linear stability of the family, determine several new critical orbits at which families of three dimensional periodic orbits of the same or double period bifurcate and present an extensive numerical exploration of the bifurcating families. In the case of the same period bifurcations, 44 families are determined. All these families are computed for equal as well as for nearly equal primaries (μ = 0.5, μ = 0.4995). Some of the bifurcating families are determined for all values of the mass parameter μ for which they exist. Examples of families of three dimensional periodic orbits bifurcating from the Sitnikov family at double period bifurcations are also given. These are the only families of three-dimensional periodic orbits presented in the paper which do not terminate with coplanar orbits and some of them contain stable parts. By contrast, all families bifurcating at single-period bifurcations consist entirely of unstable orbits and terminate with coplanar orbits.     

Multiple methods for estimating the bispectrum of the cosmic microwave background with application to the MAXIMA data

We describe different methods for estimating the bispectrum of cosmic microwave background data. In particular, we construct a minimum-variance estimator for the flat-sky limit and compare results with previously studied frequentist methods. Application to the MAXIMA data set shows consistency with primordial Gaussianity. Weak quadratic non-Gaussianity is characterized by a tunable parameter   f _NL  , corresponding to non-Gaussianity at a level of  ∼10⁻⁵ f _NL  (the ratio of non-Gaussian to Gaussian terms), and we find limits of   f _NL= 1500 ± 950  for the minimum-variance estimator and   f _NL= 2700 ± 1650  for the usual frequentist estimator. These are the tightest limits on primordial non-Gaussianity, which include the full effects of the radiation transfer function.     

Classes of Families of Generalized Periodic Solutions to the Beletsky Equation

For the equation describing plane oscillations and rotations of a satellite, we consider families of symmetric generalized periodic solutions with integral rotation number p. We give new confirmations of the hypothesis: there are only four classes of these families with topologically different structures, namely, the classes of families of periodic solutions with p≥ 1, p= 0, p=−1, and p≤−2. Besides, we demonstrate that the vertices of cusps of these families are placed on some analytical curves, and the same is true for the multiple intersections of these families with other families.     

Numerical Investigation of the Galactic Problem by Computing Families of Periodic Solutions

The galactic dynamical system expressed by a third-order axisymmetric polynomial potential is investigated numerically by computing periodic solutions. We define as Sthe compact set of initial conditions generating bounded motions, and as S ^p , with S ^p ? S, the countable set of all initial conditions generating periodic solutions. Then, we consider the subsets S _s ^p and S _a ^p of S ^p , where S _s ^p ∪ S _a ^p = S ^p , S _s ^p S _a ^p = Ø, the first of which corresponds to symmetric periodic solutions, and the second to asymmetric solutions. Then, we approximate the set S _s ^p , leaving treatment of the set S _a ^p of asymmetric solutions for a future publication. The set S _s ^p is known to be dense in S (‘Last Geometric Theorem of Poincar;’, Birkhoff, 1913). Using a computer programme capable to locate all elements of the set S _s ^p that generate symmetric periodic solutions that re-enter after intersecting the axis of symmetry from 1 to ntimes. The results of the approximation of S _s ^p in the total domain and in the sample sub-domains of zooming, we present in graphical form as family curves in the (x, C) plane. The solutions located with the largest periods re-enter after 440 galaxy revolutions while the families calculated fully (initial conditions, period, energy, stability co-efficient) include solutions that re-enter after 340 galaxy revolutions. To advance further the approximation of the set S _s ^p thus obtained, we applied the same procedure inside eight sub-domains of the domain Sinto which we ‘zoomed’ through selection of finer search steps and double maximum periods. The family curves thus calculated presented in the (x, C) plane do not intersect anywhere in some sub-domains and their pattern resembles that of laminar flow. In other sub-domains, however, we found family curves from which branching families emanate. The concepts of completeand non-completeapproximation of S _s ^p in sub-domains of laminar and sub-domains with branching family curves, respectively, is introduced. Also, the concept of basic family of order1, 2, ..., n, are defined. The morphology of individual periodic solutions of all families is investigated, and the types of envelopes found are described. The approximate set S _s ^p was also checked by computing Poincar; sections for energy values corresponding to the mean energy range of the eight sub-domains of zooming mentioned above. These sections show that most parts of the compact domain in Sgenerating non-periodic but bounded solutions correspond to with well-shaped tori that intersect the x-axis, a fact that implies that dominant to exclusive type of periodic solutions are the symmetric ones with two normal crossings of this axis. The presence of non-symmetric periodic solutions as well as of chaotic regions is encountered. All calculations reported here were performed using the variable step R-K 8th-order direct integration and setting the allowable energy variation Δ C= |C _start? C _end| < 10^?13. The output, consisting of many thousands of families and their properties (initial conditions, morphology, stability, etc.), is stored in a directory entitled ‘Atlas of the Symmetric Periodic Solution of the Galactic Motion Problem’.     

On the application of information theory to the optimum state-space reconstruction of the short-term solar radio flux (10.7 cm), and its prediction via a neural network

The prediction of a time series using a neural network involves an optimum state-space reconstruction. The state space of the daily 10.7-cm solar radio flux is reconstructed using an information theory approach. A multi-layer feed-forward neural net is used for short-term prediction of the time series. The convergence of the synaptic weights is obtained partially by simulated annealing and partially by the 'quick prop' variation of back-propagation. The result gives a reasonably accurate short-term prediction.