Generating Families In The Restricted Three Body Problem

Generating Families in the Restricted Three-Body Problem

The classical restricted problem of three bodies is of fundamental importance for its applications to astronomy and space navigation, and also as a simple model of a non-integrable Hamiltonian dynamical system. A central role is played by periodic orbits, of which a large number have been computed numerically. In this book an attempt is made to explain and organize this material through a systematic study of generating families, which are the limits of families of periodic orbits when the mass ratio of the two main bodies becomes vanishingly small. The most critical part is the study of bifurcations, where several families come together and it is necessary to determine how individual branches are joined. Many different cases must be distinguished and studied separately. Detailed recipes are given. Their use is illustrated by determining a number of generating families, associated with natural families of the restricted problem, and comparing them with numerical computations in the Earth-Moon and Sun-Jupiter case.

Generating Families in the Restricted Three-Body Problem

The classical restricted three-body problem is of fundamental importance because of its applications in astronomy and space navigation, and also as a simple model of a non-integrable Hamiltonian dynamical system. A central role is played by periodic orbits, of which many have been computed numerically. This is the second volume of an attempt to explain and organize the material through a systematic study of generating families, the limits of families of periodic orbits when the mass ratio of the two main bodies becomes vanishingly small. We use quantitative analysis in the vicinity of bifurcations of types 1 and 2. In most cases the junctions between branches can now be determined. A first-order approximation of families of periodic orbits in the vicinity of a bifurcation is also obtained. This book is intended for scientists and students interested in the restricted problem, in its applications to astronomy and space research, and in the theory of dynamical systems.

Generating Families in the Restricted Three-Body Problem