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Variational methods on periodic and quasi-periodic solutions for the N-body problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2003

KUO-CHANG CHEN
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0089, USA (e-mail: kchen@math.arizona.edu)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is two fold. First, we show how quasi-periodic solutions for the N-body problem can be constructed by variational methods. We illustrate this by constructing uncountably many quasi-periodic solutions for the four- and six-body problems with equal masses. Second, we show by examples that a system of N masses can possess infinitely many simple or multiple choreographic solutions. In particular, it is shown that the four-body problem with equal masses has infinitely many double choreographic solutions and the six-body problem with equal masses has infinitely many simple and double choreographic solutions. Our approach is based on the technique of binary decomposition and some variational properties of Keplerian orbits.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press

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