Giuseppe Pucacco

A unified treatment of quartic invariants at fixed and arbitrary energy

Two-dimensional Hamiltonian systems admitting second invariants which are quartic in the momenta are investigated using the Jacobi geometrization of the dynamics. This approach allows for a unified treatment of invariants at both arbitrary and fixed energy. In the differential geometric picture, the quartic invariant corresponds to the existence of a fourth rank Killing tensor. Expressing the Jacobi metric in terms of a Kahler potential, the integrability condition for the existence of the Killing tensor at fixed energy is a nonlinear equation involving the Kahler potential. At arbitrary energy, further conditions must be imposed which lead to an overdetermined system with isolated solutions. We obtain several new integrable and superintegrable systems in addition to all previously known examples.

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.

Testing the gravitational interaction in the field of the Earth via satellite laser ranging and the Laser Ranged Satellites Experiment (LARASE)

In this work, the Laser Ranged Satellites Experiment (LARASE) is presented. This is a research program that aims to perform new refined tests and measurements of gravitation in the field of the Earth in the weak field and slow motion (WFSM) limit of general relativity (GR). For this objective we use the free available data relative to geodetic passive satellite lasers tracked from a network of ground stations by means of the satellite laser ranging (SLR) technique. After a brief introduction to GR and its WFSM limit, which aims to contextualize the physical background of the tests and measurements that LARASE will carry out, we focus on the current limits of validation of GR and on current constraints on the alternative theories of gravity that have been obtained with the precise SLR measurements of the two LAGEOS satellites performed so far. Afterward, we present the scientific goals of LARASE in terms of upcoming measurements and tests of relativistic physics. Finally, we introduce our activities and we give a number of new results regarding the improvements to the modelling of both gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations to the orbit of the satellites. These activities are a needed prerequisite to improve the forthcoming new measurements of gravitation. An innovation with respect to the past is the specialization of the models to the LARES satellite, especially for what concerns the modelling of its spin evolution, the neutral drag perturbation and the impact of Earths solid tides on the satellite orbit.

INTEGRABLE HAMILTONIAN SYSTEMS WITH VECTOR POTENTIALS

We investigate integrable two-dimensional Hamiltonian systems with scalar and vector potentials, admitting second invariants which are linear or quadratic in the momenta. In the case of a linear second invariant, we provide some examples of weakly integrable systems. In the case of a quadratic second invariant, we recover the classical strongly integrable systems in Cartesian and polar coordinates and provide some new examples of integrable systems in parabolic and elliptical coordinates.

Lissajous and Halo Orbits in the Restricted Three-Body Problem

We study the dynamics near the collinear Lagrangian points of the spatial, circular, restricted three-body problem. Following a standard procedure, we reduce the system to the center manifold and we analyze the Lissajous orbits as well as the halo orbits, the latter ones arising from bifurcations of the planar Lyapunov family of periodic orbits. To obtain the Lissajous orbits, we perform a classical perturbation theory and we provide a formal approximate solution under suitable non-degeneracy and non-resonance conditions. As for the halo orbits, we construct a normal form adapted to the synchronous resonance: introducing a detuning, measuring the displacement from the resonance, and expanding the energy in series of the detuning, we are able to evaluate the energy level at which the bifurcation takes place. Except for a particular case, the analytical values obtained after a second order resonant perturbation theory are in very good agreement (in some cases up to the fourth decimal digit) with the numerical values found in the literature.

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.

An energy-momentum map for the time-reversal symmetric 1:1 resonance with

Abstract We present a general analysis of the bifurcation sequences of periodic orbits in general position of a family of reversible 1:1 resonant Hamiltonian normal forms invariant under Z 2 × Z 2 symmetry. The rich structure of these classical systems is investigated both with a singularity theory approach and geometric methods. The geometric approach readily allows to find an energy–momentum map describing the phase space structure of each member of the family and a catastrophe map that captures its global features. Quadrature formulas for the actions, periods and rotation number are also provided.

\Z_2\times\Z_2

We present a general analysis of the orbit structure of 2D potentials with self-similar elliptical equipotentials by applying the method of Lie transform normalization. We study the most relevant resonances and related bifurcations. We find that the 1:1 resonance is associated only with the appearance of the loops and leads to the destabilization of either one or the other normal modes, depending on the ellipticity of equipotentials. Inclined orbits are never present and may appear only when the equipotentials are heavily deformed. The 1:2 resonance determines the appearance of bananas and antibanana orbits: the first family is stable and always appears at a lower energy than the second, which is unstable. The bifurcation sequence also produces the variations in the stability character of the major-axis orbit and is modified only by very large deformations of the equipotentials. Higher order resonances appear at intermediate or higher energies and can be described with good accuracy.

symmetry

In this paper we explore general conditions which guarantee that the geodesic flow on a two-dimensional manifold with indefinite signature is locally separable. This is equivalent to showing that a two-dimensional natural Hamiltonian system on the hyperbolic plane possesses a second integral of motion which is a quadratic polynomial in the momenta associated with a secind rank Killing tensor. We examine the possibility that the integral is preserved by the Hamiltonian flow on a given energy hypersurface only (weak integrability) and derive the additional requirement necessary to have conservation at arbitrary values of the Hamiltonian (strong integrability). Using null coordinates, we show that the leading-order coefficients of the invariant are arbitrary functions of one variable in the case of weak integrability. These functions are quadratic polynomials in the coordinates in the case of strong integrability. We show that for (1+1)-dimensional systems, there are three possible types of conformal Killing...

Resonances and bifurcations in systems with elliptical equipotentials

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.