On the 2/1 resonant planetary dynamics – periodic orbits and dynamical stability

The 2/1 resonant dynamics of a two-planet planar system is studied within the framework of the three-body problem by computing families of periodic orbits and their linear stability. The continuation of resonant periodic orbits from the restricted to the general problem is studied in a systematic way. Starting from the Keplerian unperturbed system, we obtain the resonant families of the circular restricted problem. Then, we find all the families of the resonant elliptic restricted three-body problem, which bifurcate from the circular model. All these families are continued to the general three-body problem, and in this way we can obtain a global picture of all the families of periodic orbits of a two-planet resonant system. The parametric continuation, within the framework of the general problem, takes place by varying the planetary mass ratio ρ. We obtain bifurcations which are caused either due to collisions of the families in the space of initial conditions or due to the vanishing of bifurcation points. Our study refers to the whole range of planetary mass ratio values  [ρ∈ (0, ∞)]  and, therefore we include the passage from external to internal resonances. Thus, we can obtain all possible stable configurations in a systematic way. As an application, we consider the dynamics of four known planetary systems at the 2/1 resonance and we examine if they are associated with a stable periodic orbit.     

Periodic orbits in three-dimensional planetary systems

Three-dimensional planetary systems are studied, using the model of the restricted three-body problem for Μ =.001. Families of three-dimensional periodic orbits of relatively low multiplicity are numerically computed at the resonances 3/1, 5/3, 3/5 and 1/3 and their stability is determined. The three-dimensional orbits are found by continuation to the third dimension of the vertical critical orbits of the corresponding planar problem     

2/1 resonant periodic orbits in three dimensional planetary systems

We consider the general spatial three body problem and study the dynamics of planetary systems consisting of a star and two planets which evolve into 2/1 mean motion resonance and into inclined orbits. Our study is focused on the periodic orbits of the system given in a suitable rotating frame. The stability of periodic orbits characterize the evolution of any planetary system with initial conditions in their vicinity. Stable periodic orbits are associated with long term regular evolution, while unstable periodic orbits are surrounded by regions of chaotic motion. We compute many families of symmetric periodic orbits by applying two schemes of analytical continuation. In the first scheme, we start from the 2/1 (or 1/2) resonant periodic orbits of the restricted problem and in the second scheme, we start from vertical critical periodic orbits of the general planar problem. Most of the periodic orbits are unstable, but many stable periodic orbits have been, also, found with mutual inclination up to 50^?–60^?, which may be related with the existence of real planetary systems.     

A Review on Co-orbital Motion in Restricted and Planetary Three-body Problems

The 1:1 mean motion resonance may be referred to as the lowest order mean motion resonance in restricted or planetary three-body problems. The five well-known libration points of the circular restricted three-body problem are five equilibriums of the 1:1 resonance. Coorbital motion may take different shapes of trajectory. In case of small orbital eccentricities and inclinations, tadpole-shape and horseshoe-shape orbits are well-known. Other 1:1 libration modes different from the elementary ones can exist at moderate or large eccentricities and inclinations. Coorbital objects are not rare in our solar system, for example the Trojans asteroids and the coorbital satellite systems of Saturn. Recently, dozens of coorbital bodies have been identified among the near-Earth asteroids. These coorbital asteroids are believed to transit recurrently between different 1:1 libration modes mainly due to orbital precessions, planetary perturbations, and other possible effects. The Hamiltonian system and the Hill’s three-body problem are two effective approaches to study coorbital motions. To apply the perturbation theory to the Hamiltonian system, standard procedures involve the development of the disturbing function, averaging and normalization, theory of ideal resonance model, secular perturbation theory, etc. Global dynamics of coorbital motion can be revealed by the Hamiltonian approach with a suitable expansion. The Hill’s problem is particularly suitable for the studies on the relative motion of two coorbital bodies during their close encounter. The Hill’s equation derived from the circular restricted three-body problem is well known. However, the general Hill’s problem whose equation of motion takes exactly the same form applies to the non-restricted case where the mass of each body is non-negligible, namely the planetary case. The Hill’s problem can be transformed into a “canonical shape” so that the averaging principle can be applied to construct a secular perturbation theory. Besides the two analytical theories, numerical methods may be consulted, for example the approach of periodic orbit, the surface of section, and the computation of invariant manifolds carried by equilibriums or periodic orbits.     

Origin and continuation of 3/2, 5/2, 3/1, 4/1 and 5/1 resonant periodic orbits in the circular and elliptic restricted three-body problem

We consider a planetary system consisting of two primaries, namely a star and a giant planet, and a massless secondary, say a terrestrial planet or an asteroid, which moves under their gravitational attraction. We study the dynamics of this system in the framework of the circular and elliptic restricted three-body problem, when the motion of the giant planet describes circular and elliptic orbits, respectively. Originating from the circular family, families of symmetric periodic orbits in the 3/2, 5/2, 3/1, 4/1 and 5/1 mean-motion resonances are continued in the circular and the elliptic problems. New bifurcation points from the circular to the elliptic problem are found for each of the above resonances, and thus, new families continued from these points are herein presented. Stable segments of periodic orbits were found at high eccentricity values of the already known families considered as whole unstable previously. Moreover, new isolated (not continued from bifurcation points) families are computed in the elliptic restricted problem. The majority of the new families mainly consists of stable periodic orbits at high eccentricities. The families of the 5/1 resonance are investigated for the first time in the restricted three-body problems. We highlight the effect of stable periodic orbits on the formation of stable regions in their vicinity and unveil the boundaries of such domains in phase space by computing maps of dynamical stability. The long-term stable evolution of the terrestrial planets or asteroids is dependent on the existence of regular domains in their dynamical neighbourhood in phase space, which could host them for long-time spans. This study, besides other celestial architectures that can be efficiently modelled by the circular and elliptic restricted problems, is particularly appropriate for the discovery of terrestrial companions among the single-giant planet systems discovered so far.     

Periodic orbits

Recent results on periodic orbits are presented. Planetary systems can be studied by the model of the general 3-body problem and also some satellite systems and asteroid orbits can be studied by the model of the restricted 3-body problem. Triple stellar systems and planetary systems with two Suns are close to periodic systems. Finally, the motion of stars in various types of galaxies can be studied by finding families of periodic orbits in several galactic models.     

Numerical models for the study of motion of lunar satellites

The present study deals with numerical modeling of the elliptic restricted three-body problem as well as of the perturbed elliptic restricted three-body (Earth-Moon-Satellite) problem by a fourth body (Sun). Two numerical algorithms are established and investigated. The first is based on the method of the series solution of the differential equations and the second is based on a 5th-order Runge-Kutta method. The applications concern the solution of the equations and integrals of motion of the circular and elliptical restricted three-body problem as well as the search for periodic orbits of the natural satellites of the Moon in the Earth-Moon system in both cases in which the Moon describes circular or elliptical orbit around the Earth before the perturbations induced by the Sun. After the introduction of the perturbations in the Earth-Moon-Satellite system the motions of the Moon and the Satellite are studied with the same initial conditions which give periodic orbits for the unperturbed elliptic problem.     

Periodic Orbits of a Collinear Restricted Three-Body Problem

In this paper we study symmetric periodic orbits of a collinear restricted three-body problem, when the middle mass is the largest one. These symmetric periodic orbits are obtained from analytic continuation of symmetric periodic orbits of two collinear two-body problems.     

Families of periodic orbits in the planar three-body problem

A periodic orbit of the restricted circular three-body problem, selected arbitrarily, is used to generate a family of periodic motions in the general three-body problem in a rotating frame of reference, by varying the massm ₃ of the third body. This family is continued numerically up to a maximum value of the mass of the originally small body, which corresponds to a mass ratiom ₁:m ₂:m ₃?5:5:3. From that point on the family continues for decreasing massesm ₃ until this mass becomes again equal to zero. It turns out that this final orbit of the family is a periodic orbit of the elliptic restricted three body problem. These results indicate clearly that families of periodic motions of the three-body problem exist for fixed values of the three masses, since this continuation can be applied to all members of a family of periodic orbits of the restricted three-body problem. It is also indicated that the periodic orbits of the circular restricted problem can be linked with the periodic orbits of the elliptic three-body problem through periodic orbits of the general three-body problem.     

Periodic orbits of the general three-body problem for the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system

Two families of symmetric periodic orbits of the planar, general, three-body problem are presented. The masses of the three bodies include ratios equal to the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system and the periods of the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn are in a 25 resonance. The (linear) stability of the orbits are studied in relation to eccentricity and mass variations. The generation of the two families of periodic orbits follows a systematic approach and employs (numerical) continuation from periodic orbits of the first and second kind in the circular restricted problem to the elliptic restricted problem and from the circular and elliptic problems to the general problem through bifurcation phenomena relating the three dynamical systems. The approach also provides insight into the evolutionary process of periodic orbits continued from the restricted problems to the general problem.     

Straight-line oscillations generating three-dimensional motions in the photogravitational restricted three-body problem

The Sitnikov configuration is a special case of the restricted three-body problem where the two primaries are of equal masses and the third body of a negligible mass moves along a straight line perpendicular to the orbital plane of the primaries and passes through their center of mass. It may serve as a toy model in dynamical astronomy, and can be used to study the three-dimensional orbits in more applicable cases of the classical three-body problem. The present paper concerns the straight-line oscillations of the Sitnikov family of the photogravitational circular restricted three-body problem as well as the associated families of three-dimensional periodic orbits. From the stability analysis of the Sitnikov family and by using appropriate correctors we have computed accurately 49 critical orbits at which families of 3D periodic orbits of the same period bifurcate. All these families have been computed in both cases of equal and non-equal primaries, and consist entirely of unstable orbits. They all terminate with coplanar periodic orbits. We have also found 35 critical orbits at which period doubling bifurcations occur. Several families of 3D periodic orbits bifurcating at these critical Sitnikov orbits have also been given. These families contain stable parts and close upon themselves containing no coplanar orbits.     

Asymptotic Orbits and Terminations of Families in the Copenhagen Problem, II

We present families of periodic orbits of the restricted three-body problem terminating with homoclinic orbits asymptotic to equilibrium points or to periodic orbits, as opposed to heteroclinic orbits presented in part I. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Displaced non-Keplerian orbits using impulsive thrust

This paper investigates new families of displaced, highly non-Keplerian orbits in the two-body problem and artificial equilibria in the circular restricted three-body problem. The families of orbits presented extend prior work by using periodic impulses to generate displaced orbits rather than continuous thrust. The new displaced orbits comprise a sequence of individual Keplerian arcs whose intersection is continuous in position, with discontinuities in velocity removed using impulses. For frequent impulses the new families of orbits approximate continuous thrust non-Keplerian orbits found in previous studies. To generate approximations to artificial equilibria in the circular restricted three-body problem, periodic impulses are used to generate a sequence of connected three-body arcs which begin and terminate at a fixed position in the rotating frame of reference. Again, these families of orbits reduce to the families of artificial equilibria found using continuous thrust.     

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.     

A Family of Symmetrical Schubart-Like Interplay Orbits and their Stability in the One-Dimensional Four-Body Problem

We locate members of an important category of periodic orbits in the Newtonian four-body problem. These systems perform an interplay motion similar to that of the periodic three-body orbit discovered by Schubart. Such orbits, when stable, have been shown to be a key feature and influence on the dynamics of few-body systems. We consider the restricted case where the masses are collinear and are distributed symmetrically about their centre of mass. A family of orbits is generated from the known (three-dimensionally) unstable equal masses case by varying the mass ratio, whilst maintaining the symmetry. The stability of these orbits to perturbation is studied using linear stability analysis, analytical approximation of limiting cases and nonlinear simulation. We answer the natural question: are there any stable periodic orbits of this kind? Three ranges of the mass ratio are found to have stable orbits and three ranges have unstable orbits for three-dimensional motion. The systems closely resemble their three-body counterparts. Here the family of interplay orbits is simpler requiring just one parameter to characterise the mass ratio. Our results provide a further insight into three-body orbits studied previously.     

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.     

On quasi-satellite periodic motion in asteroid and planetary dynamics

Applying the method of analytical continuation of periodic orbits, we study quasi-satellite motion in the framework of the three-body problem. In the simplest, yet not trivial model, namely the planar circular restricted problem, it is known that quasi-satellite motion is associated with a family of periodic solutions, called family f, which consists of 1:1 resonant retrograde orbits. In our study, we determine the critical orbits of family f that are continued both in the elliptic and in the spatial models and compute the corresponding families that are generated and consist the backbone of the quasi-satellite regime in the restricted model. Then, we show the continuation of these families in the general three-body problem, we verify and explain previous computations and show the existence of a new family of spatial orbits. The linear stability of periodic orbits is also studied. Stable periodic orbits unravel regimes of regular motion in phase space where 1:1 resonant angles librate. Such regimes, which exist even for high eccentricities and inclinations, may consist dynamical regions where long-lived asteroids or co-orbital exoplanets can be found.     

General three-body problem: Families of three-dimensional periodic orbits (part II)

In this paper we present a two-parametric family of symmetric periodic orbits of the three-dimensional general three-body problem, found numerically by continuation of a vertical critical orbit of the circular restricted three-body problem. The periodic orbits refer to a suitably defined rotating frame of reference.     

The rectilinear three-body problem as a basis for studying highly eccentric systems

The rectilinear elliptic restricted three-body problem (TBP) is the limiting case of the elliptic restricted TBP when the motion of the primaries is described by a Keplerian ellipse with eccentricity \(e'=1\), but the collision of the primaries is assumed to be a non-singular point. The rectilinear model has been proposed as a starting model for studying the dynamics of motion around highly eccentric binary systems. Broucke (AIAA J 7:1003–1009, 1969) explored the rectilinear problem and obtained isolated periodic orbits for mass parameter \(\mu =0.5\) (equal masses of the primaries). We found that all orbits obtained by Broucke are linearly unstable. We extend Broucke’s computations by using a finer search for symmetric periodic orbits and computing their linear stability. We found a large number of periodic orbits, but only eight of them were found to be linearly stable and are associated with particular mean motion resonances. These stable orbits are used as generating orbits for continuation with respect to \(\mu \) and \(e'<1\). Also, continuation of periodic solutions with respect to the mass of the small body can be applied by using the general TBP. FLI maps of dynamical stability show that stable periodic orbits are surrounded in phase space with regions of regular orbits indicating that systems of very highly eccentric orbits can be found in stable resonant configurations. As an application we present a stability study for the planetary system HD7449.