Families of periodic orbits for the spatial isosceles 3-body problem

We study the families of periodic orbits of the spatial isosceles 3-body problem (for small enough values of the mass lying on the symmetry axis) coming via the analytic continuation method from periodic orbits of the circular Sitnikov problem. Using the first integral of the angular momentum, we reduce the dimension of the phase space of the problem by two units. Since periodic orbits of the reduced isosceles problem generate invariant two-dimensional tori of the nonreduced problem, the analytic continuation of periodic orbits of the (reduced) circular Sitnikov problem at this level becomes the continuation of invariant two-dimensional tori from the circular Sitnikov problem to the nonreduced isosceles problem, each one filled with periodic or quasi-periodic orbits. These tori are not KAM tori but just isotropic, since we are dealing with a three-degrees-of-freedom system. The continuation of periodic orbits is done in two different ways, the first going directly from the reduced circular Sitnikov problem to the reduced isosceles problem, and the second one using two steps: first we continue the periodic orbits from the reduced circular Sitnikov problem to the reduced elliptic Sitnikov problem, and then we continue those periodic orbits of the reduced elliptic Sitnikov problem to the reduced isosceles problem. The continuation in one or two steps produces different results. This work is merely analytic and uses the variational equations in order to apply Poincar´e’s continuation method

On the relationship between instability and Lyapunov times for the 3-body problem

In this study we consider the relationship between the survival time and the Lyapunov time for 3-body systems. It is shown that the Sitnikov problem exhibits a two-part power law relationship as demonstrated previously for the general 3-body problem. Using an approximate Poincare map on an appropriate surface of section, we delineate escape regions in a domain of initial conditions and use these regions to analytically obtain a new functional relationship between the Lyapunov time and the survival time for the 3-body problem. The marginal probability distributions of the Lyapunov and survival times are discussed and we show that the probability density function of Lyapunov times for the Sitnikov problem is similar to that for the general 3-body problem.Comment: 9 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Relativistic effects in the chaotic Sitnikov problem

We investigate the phase space structure of the relativistic Sitnikov problem in the first post-Newtonian approximation. The phase space portraits show a strong dependence on the gravitational radius which describes the strength of the relativistic pericentre advance. Bifurcations appearing at increasing the gravitational radius are presented. Transient chaotic behavior related to escapes from the primaries are also studied. Finally, the numerically determined chaotic saddle is investigated in the context of hyperbolic and non-hyperbolic dynamics as a function of the gravitational radius.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure

On the periodic orbits of the circular double Sitnikov problem

We introduce a restricted four body problem in a 2+2 configuration extending the classical Sitnikov problem to the Double Sitnikov problem. The secondary bodies are moving on the same perpendicular line to the planewhere the primaries evolve, so almost every solution is a collision orbit. We extend the solutions beyond collisions with a symplectic regularization and study the set of energy surfaces that contain periodic orbits.Comment: 4 pages. Accepted in C. R. Acad. Sci. de Paris, Serie I. This is not the final versio

Variational Construction of Orbits Realizing Symbolic Sequences in the Planar Sitnikov Problem

Using the variational method, Chenciner and Montgomery (2000 Ann. Math. 52 881–901) proved the existence of an eight-shaped orbit of the planar three-body problem with equal masses. Since then a number of solutions to the N-body problem have been discovered. On the other hand, symbolic dynamics is one of the most useful methods for understanding chaotic dynamics. The Sitnikov problem is a special case of the three-body problem. The system is known to be chaotic and was studied by using symbolic dynamics (J. Moser, Stable and random motions in dynamical systems, Princeton University Press, 1973). In this paper, we study the limiting case of the Sitnikov problem. By using the variational method, we show the existence of various kinds of solutions in the planar Sitnikov problem. For a given symbolic sequence, we show the existence of orbits realizing it. We also prove the existence of periodic orbits

Symplectic Regularization of Binary Collisions in the Circular N+2 Sitnikov Problem

We present a brief overview of the regularizing transformations of the Kepler problem and we relate the Euler transformation with the symplectic structure of the phase space of the N-body problem. We show that any particular solution of the N-body problem where two bodies have rectilinear dynamics can be regularized by a linear symplectic transformation and the inclusion of the Euler transformation into the group of symplectic local diffeomorphisms over the phase space. As an application we regularize a particular configuration of the circular N+2 Sitnikov problem.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures. References to algorithmic regularization included, changes in References and small typographic corrections. Accepted in J. of Phys. A: Math. Theor 44 (2011) 265204 http://stacks.iop.org/1751-8121/44/26520