Linearization of dynamical systems using integrals of the motion

A method is presented which transforms certain non-linear differential equations of dynamics into linear equations by introducing a new independent variable and by utilizing the integrals of motion. As examples of special interest the linearizations of unperturbed and perturbed Keplerian motions are discussed.     

On the disappearance of isolating integrals in dynamical systems with more than two degrees of freedom

We continue to study the number of isolating integrals in dynamical systems with three and four degrees of freedom, using as models the measure preserving mappingsT already introduced in preceding papers (Froeschlé, 1973; Froeschlé and Scheidecker, 1973a).Thus, we use here a new numerical method which enables us to take as indicator of stochasticity the variation withn of the two (respectively three) largest eigenvalues-in absolute magnitude-of the linear tangential mappingT ⁿ * ofT ⁿ . This variation appears to be a very good tool for studying the diffusion process which occurs during the disappearance of the isolating integrals, already shown in a previous paper (Froeschlé, 1971). In the case of systems with three degrees of freedom, we define and give an estimation of the diffusion time, and show that the gambler's ruin model is an approximation of this diffusion process.     

The dynamical effects of supernovae on the interstellar medium

An interstellar cloud suddenly overrun by a supernova blast wave experiences a very rapid increase in boundary pressure. A shock wave propagates into the cloud. As a preliminary investigation, the propagation of spherical shock waves in an adiabatic medium is studied numerically.     

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.     

The dynamical decay of unstable 4-body systems

Unstable 4-body systems with negative energy can ultimately decay to (1) a binary plus two single stars, (2) two separate binaries, or (3) a stable triple plus a single star. One hundred random 2-dimensional and one hundred random 3-dimensional 4-body systems have been numerically integrated to determine the statistics of the end products. Of the final stable triples and binaries, 19% were triples, which agrees well with observational estimates of the ratio of triples to binaries. The results were essentially the same for 2- and 3- dimensional systems.     

The dynamical stability of W Ursae Majoris-type systems

Theoretical study indicates that a contact binary system would merge into a rapidly rotating single star due to tidal instability when the spin angular momentum of the system is more than a third of its orbital angular momentum. Assuming that W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) contact binary systems rigorously comply with the Roche geometry and the dynamical stability limit is at a contact degree of about 70 per cent, we obtain that W UMa systems might suffer Darwin's instability when their mass ratios are in a region of about 0.076–0.078 and merge into the fast-rotating stars. This suggests that the W UMa systems with mass ratio   q ≤ 0.076  cannot be observed. Meanwhile, we find that the observed W UMa systems with a mass ratio of about 0.077, corresponding to a contact degree of about 86 per cent would suffer tidal instability and merge into the single fast-rotating stars. This suggests that the dynamical stability limit for the observed W UMa systems is higher than the theoretical value, implying that the observed systems have probably suffered the loss of angular momentum due to gravitational wave radiation (GR) or magnetic stellar wind (MSW).     

The Gaussian curvature of associated manifold of dynamical systems

A connection is shown to exist between the Gaussian curvature of the associated manifold and the ergodic or non-ergodic behaviour of certain dynamical systems of astronomical and astrophysical importance.     

Transition spectra of dynamical systems

The spectra of ‘stretching numbers’ (or ‘local Lyapunov characteristic numbers’) are different in the ordered and in the chaotic domain. We follow the variation of the spectrum as we move from the centre of an island outwards until we reach the chaotic domain. As we move outwards the number of abrupt maxima in the spectrum increases. These maxima correspond to maxima or minima in the curve a(θ), where a is the stretching number, and θ the azimuthal angle. We explain the appearance of new maxima in the spectra of ordered orbits. The orbits just outside the last KAM curve are confined close to this curve for a long time (stickiness time) because of the existence of cantori surrounding the island, but eventually escape to the large chaotic domain further outside. The spectra of sticky orbits resemble those of the ordered orbits just inside the last KAM curve, but later these spectra tend to the invariant spectrum of the chaotic domain. The sticky spectra are invariant during the stickiness time. The stickiness time increases exponentially as we approach an island of stability, but very close to an island the increase is super exponential. The stickiness time varies substantially for nearby orbits; thus we define a probability of escape P_n(x) at time n for every point x. Only the average escape time in a not very small interval Δx around each x is reliable. Then we study the convergence of the spectra to the final, invariant spectrum. We define the number of iterations, N, needed to approach the final spectrum within a given accuracy. In the regular domain N is small, while in the chaotic domain it is large. In some ordered cases the convergence is anomalously slow. In these cases the maximum value of a_k in the continued fraction expansion of the rotation number a = [a₀,a₁,... a_k,...] is large. The ordered domain contains small higher order chaotic domains and higher order islands. These can be located by calculating orbits starting at various points along a line parallel to the q-axis. A monotonic variation of the sup {q}as a function of the initial condition q₀ indicates ordered motions, a jump indicates the crossing of a localized chaotic domain, and a V-shaped structure indicates the crossing of an island. But sometimes the V-shaped structure disappears if the orbit is calculated over longer times. This is due to a near resonance of the rotation number, that is not followed by stable islands. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the construction of dynamic systems from given integrals

In this communication we propose a new approach for studying a particular type of inverse problems in mechanics related to the construction of a force field from given integrals.An extension of the Danielli problem is obtained. The given results are applied to the Suslov problem, and illustrated in specific examples.     

Numerical treatment of non-integrable dynamical systems

A systematic and detailed discussion of the gravitational spring-pendulum problem is given for the first time. A procedure is developed for the numerical treatment of non-integrable dynamical systems which possess certain properties in common with the gravitational problem. The technique is important because, in contrast to previous studies, it discloses completely the structure of two-dimensional periodic motion by examining the stability of the one-dimensional periodic motion. Through the parameters of this stability, points have been predicted from which the one-dimensional motion bifurcates into two-dimensional motion. Consequently, families of two-dimensional periodic solutions emanated from these points are studied. These families constitute the generators of the mesh of all the families of periodic solutions of the problem.     

Self-similar solutions for the dynamical condensation of a radiative gas layer

A new self-similar solution describing the dynamical condensation of a radiative gas is investigated under a plane-parallel geometry. The dynamical condensation is caused by thermal instability. The solution is applicable to generic flow with a net cooling rate per unit volume and time  ∝ρ² T ^α  , where  ρ,  T   and α are the density, temperature and a free parameter, respectively. Given α, a family of self-similar solutions with one parameter η is found in which the central density and pressure evolve as follows:  ρ( x = 0, t ) ∝ ( t _c− t )^{−η/(2−α)}  and   P ( x = 0, t ) ∝ ( t _c− t )^{(1−η)/(1−α)}  , where t _c is the epoch at which the central density becomes infinite. For  η∼ 0  the solution describes the isochoric mode, whereas for  η∼ 1  the solution describes the isobaric mode. The self-similar solutions exist in the range between the two limits; that is, for  0 < η < 1  . No self-similar solution is found for  α > 1  . We compare the obtained self-similar solutions with the results of one-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. In a converging flow, the results of the numerical simulations agree well with the self-similar solutions in the high-density limit. Our self-similar solutions are applicable to the formation of interstellar clouds (H  i clouds and molecular clouds) by thermal instability.     

Universal properties of escape in dynamical systems

This paper summarizes a numerical study of the escape properties of three two-dimensional, time-independent potentials possessing different symmetries. It was found, for all three cases, that (i) there is a rather abrupt transition in the behaviour of the late-time probability of escape, when the value of a coupling parameter, , exceeds a critical value, 2. For e > e2, it was found that (ii) the escape probability manifests an initial convergence towards a nearly time-independent value, p _o(), which exhibits a simple scaling that may be universal. However, (iii) at later times the escape probability slowly decays to zero as a power-law function of time. Finally, it was found that (iv) in a statistical sense, orbits that escape from the system at late times tend to have short time Lyapounov exponents which are lower than for orbits that escape at early times.     

The Shannon entropy as a measure of diffusion in multidimensional dynamical systems

In the present work, we introduce two new estimators of chaotic diffusion based on the Shannon entropy. Using theoretical, heuristic and numerical arguments, we show that the entropy, S, provides a measure of the diffusion extent of a given small initial ensemble of orbits, while an indicator related with the time derivative of the entropy, \(S'\), estimates the diffusion rate. We show that in the limiting case of near ergodicity, after an appropriate normalization, \(S'\) coincides with the standard homogeneous diffusion coefficient. The very first application of this formulation to a 4D symplectic map and to the Arnold Hamiltonian reveals very successful and encouraging results.     

A note on the solution of the variational equations of a class of dynamical systems

Some properties are derived for the solutions of the variational equations of a class of dynamical systems. It is shown that in rather general conditions the matrix of the linearized Lagrangian equations of motion have an important property for which the word skew-symplectic has been introduced. It is also shown that the fundamental matrix of solutions is symplectic, the word symplectic being used here in a more general sense than in the classical literature. Two consequences of the symplectic property are that the fundamental matrix is easily invertible and that the eigenvalues appear in reciprocal pairs. The effect of coordinate transformations is also analyzed; in particular the change from Lagrangian to canonical systems.     

Numerical integration of dynamical systems with Lie series

The integration of the equations of motion in gravitational dynamical systems—either in our Solar System or for extra-solar planetary systems—being non integrable in the global case, is usually performed by means of numerical integration. Among the different numerical techniques available for solving ordinary differential equations, the numerical integration using Lie series has shown some advantages. In its original form (Hanslmeier and Dvorak, Astron Astrophys 132, 203 1984), it was limited to the N-body problem where only gravitational interactions are taken into account. We present in this paper a generalisation of the method by deriving an expression of the Lie terms when other major forces are considered. As a matter of fact, previous studies have been done but only for objects moving under gravitational attraction. If other perturbations are added, the Lie integrator has to be re-built. In the present work we consider two cases involving position and position-velocity dependent perturbations: relativistic acceleration in the framework of General Relativity and a simplified force for the Yarkovsky effect. A general iteration procedure is applied to derive the Lie series to any order and precision. We then give an application to the integration of the equation of motions for typical Near-Earth objects and planet Mercury.     

Local integrals and the plane motion of a point in rotating systems

This paper deals with the plane motion of a star in the gravitational field of a system which is in a steady state and rotates with a constant angular velocity. For these systems a class of potentials permitting a local integral, linear with respect to the velocity components, has been found. The concept of the local integral itself was introduced by one of the authors of the present paper (Antonov, 1981). A detailed model has been constructed. The corresponding domain of the particle motion and the form of the trajectory coils have been determined. The result is compared with the motion in a more realistic potential.     

On a type of solutions for dynamical rupture of the equilibrium of stars

Solutions for dynamical behaviour of unstable stellar models are obtained, in the special case where the velocity of a gaseous element varies asr/t. It is found that the only possible value for the constant of proportionality is 2/3 and that there are only two such stellar configurations.