The stability properties of a recently discovered solution of the general three-body problem with equal masses and the shape of a figure 8 are analyzed as the masses are varied. It is shown by numerical continuation and the evaluation of the characteristic multipliers that the solution is stable only in a narrow mass interval. Other less symmetrical and unstable solutions with equal masses in the same homotopy class as the figure-8 orbit have been found. The branching behavior is also analyzed.
The Three Body Problem Epub
2ff7e9595c
Comments