47 research outputs found
Integrating the geodesic equations in the Schwarzschild and Kerr space-times using Beltrami's "geometrical" method
We revisit a little known theorem due to Beltrami, through which the
integration of the geodesic equations of a curved manifold is accomplished by a
method which, even if inspired by the Hamilton-Jacobi method, is purely
geometric. The application of this theorem to the Schwarzschild and Kerr
metrics leads straightforwardly to the general solution of their geodesic
equations. This way of dealing with the problem is, in our opinion, very much
in keeping with the geometric spirit of general relativity. In fact, thanks to
this theorem we can integrate the geodesic equations by a geometrical method
and then verify that the classical conservation laws follow from these
equations.Comment: 12 pages; corrected typos, journal-ref adde
Periodic orbits in the logarithmic potential
Analytic methods to investigate periodic orbits in galactic potentials. To
evaluate the quality of the approximation of periodic orbits in the logarithmic
potential constructed using perturbation theory based on Hamiltonian normal
forms. The solutions of the equations of motion corresponding to periodic
orbits are obtained as series expansions computed by inverting the normalizing
canonical transformation. To improve the convergence of the series a
resummation based on a continued fraction may be performed. This method is
analogous to that looking for approximate rational solutions (Prendergast
method). It is shown that with a normal form truncated at the lowest order
incorporating the relevant resonance it is possible to construct quite accurate
solutions both for normal modes and periodic orbits in general position.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication on Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Stability of axial orbits in galactic potentials
We investigate the dynamics in a galactic potential with two reflection
symmetries. The phase-space structure of the real system is approximated with a
resonant detuned normal form constructed with the method based on the Lie
transform. Attention is focused on the stability properties of the axial
periodic orbits that play an important role in galactic models. Using energy
and ellipticity as parameters, we find analytical expressions of bifurcations
and compare them with numerical results available in the literature.Comment: 20 pages, accepted for publication on Celestial Mechanics and
Dynamical Astronom
BIGRE: a low cross-talk integral field unit tailored for extrasolar planets imaging spectroscopy
Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) represents a powerful technique for the
detection and characterization of extrasolar planets through high contrast
imaging, since it allows to obtain simultaneously a large number of
monochromatic images. These can be used to calibrate and then to reduce the
impact of speckles, once their chromatic dependence is taken into account. The
main concern in designing integral field spectrographs for high contrast
imaging is the impact of the diffraction effects and the non-common path
aberrations together with an efficient use of the detector pixels. We focus our
attention on integral field spectrographs based on lenslet-arrays, discussing
the main features of these designs: the conditions of appropriate spatial and
spectral sampling of the resulting spectrograph's slit functions and their
related cross-talk terms when the system works at the diffraction limit. We
present a new scheme for the integral field unit (IFU) based on a dual-lenslet
device (BIGRE), that solves some of the problems related to the classical TIGER
design when used for such applications. We show that BIGRE provides much lower
cross-talk signals than TIGER, allowing a more efficient use of the detector
pixels and a considerable saving of the overall cost of a lenslet-based
integral field spectrograph.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Quantitative predictions with detuned normal forms
The phase-space structure of two families of galactic potentials is
approximated with a resonant detuned normal form. The normal form series is
obtained by a Lie transform of the series expansion around the minimum of the
original Hamiltonian. Attention is focused on the quantitative predictive
ability of the normal form. We find analytical expressions for bifurcations of
periodic orbits and compare them with other analytical approaches and with
numerical results. The predictions are quite reliable even outside the
convergence radius of the perturbation and we analyze this result using
resummation techniques of asymptotic series.Comment: Accepted for publication on Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical
Astronom
SPICES: Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems
SPICES (Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary
Systems) is a five-year M-class mission proposed to ESA Cosmic Vision. Its
purpose is to image and characterize long-period extrasolar planets and
circumstellar disks in the visible (450 - 900 nm) at a spectral resolution of
about 40 using both spectroscopy and polarimetry. By 2020/22, present and
near-term instruments will have found several tens of planets that SPICES will
be able to observe and study in detail. Equipped with a 1.5 m telescope, SPICES
can preferentially access exoplanets located at several AUs (0.5-10 AU) from
nearby stars (25 pc) with masses ranging from a few Jupiter masses to Super
Earths (2 Earth radii, 10 M) as well as circumstellar
disks as faint as a few times the zodiacal light in the Solar System
VizieR Online Data Catalog: SPHERE and NaCo images of HD 19467B (Maire+, 2020)
The SPHERE and NaCo high-contrast images processed with angular differential imaging are provided. The SPHERE and NaCo/Lp images were processed with TLOCI-ADI (see Galicher et al., 2018A&A...615A..92G) and are normalized to the stellar peak (contrast with respect to the star). The NaCo/Mp image was processed with PCA (see Cheetham et al., 2019A&A...622A..80C). (2 data files)