Morse index and linear stability of the Lagrangian circular orbit in a three-body-type problem via index theory

Abstract

It is well known that the linear stability of the Lagrangian elliptic solutions in the classical planar three-body problem depends on a mass parameter $\beta$ and on the eccentricity $e$ of the orbit. We consider only the circular case ($e = 0$) but under the action of a broader family of singular potentials: $\alpha$-homogeneous potentials, for $\alpha \in (0,2)$, and the logarithmic one. It turns out indeed that the Lagrangian circular orbit persists also in this more general setting. We discover a region of linear stability expressed in terms of the homogeneity parameter $\alpha$ and the mass parameter $\beta$, then we compute the Morse index of this orbit and of its iterates and we find that the boundary of the stability region is the envelope of a family of curves on which the Morse indices of the iterates jump. In order to conduct our analysis we rely on a Maslov-type index theory devised and developed by Y.~Long, X.~Hu and S.~Sun; a key role is played by an appropriate index theorem and by some precise computations of suitable Maslov-type indices.Comment: 48 pages, 13 figures, minor revision