No Arabic abstract
The gravitational potentials of realistic galaxy models are in general non-integrable, in the sense that they admit orbits that do not have three independent isolating integrals of motion and are therefore chaotic. However, if chaotic orbits are a small minority in a stellar system, it is expected that they have negligible impact on the main dynamical properties of the system. In this paper we address the question of quantifying the importance of chaotic orbits in a stellar system, focusing, for simplicity, on axisymmetric systems. Chaotic orbits have been found in essentially all (non-Stackel) axisymmetric gravitational potentials in which they have been looked for. Based on the analysis of the surfaces of section, we add new examples to those in the literature, finding chaotic orbits, as well as resonantly trapped orbits among regular orbits, in Miyamoto-Nagai, flattened logarithmic and shifted Plummer axisymmetric potentials. We define the fractional contributions in mass of chaotic ($xi_{rm c}$) and resonantly trapped ($xi_{rm t}$) orbits to a stellar system of given distribution function, which are very useful quantities, for instance in the study of the dispersal of stellar streams of galaxy satellites. As a case study, we measure $xi_{rm c}$ and $xi_{rm t}$ in two axisymmetric stellar systems obtained by populating flattened logarithmic potentials with the Evans ergodic distribution function, finding $xi_{rm c}sim 10^{-4}-10^{-3}$ and $xi_{rm t}sim 10^{-2}-10^{-1}$.
The center of the Milky Way hosts a massive black hole. The observational evidence for its existence is overwhelming. The compact radio source Sgr A* has been associated with a black hole since its discovery. In the last decade, high-resolution, near-infrared measurements of individual stellar orbits in the innermost region of the Galactic Center have shown that at the position of Sgr A* a highly concentrated mass of 4 x 10^6 M_sun is located. Assuming that general relativity is correct, the conclusion that Sgr A* is a massive black hole is inevitable. Without doubt this is the most important application of stellar orbits in the Galactic Center. Here, we discuss the possibilities going beyond the mass measurement offered by monitoring these orbits. They are an extremely useful tool for many scientific questions, such as a geometric distance estimate to the Galactic Center or the puzzle, how these stars reached their current orbits. Future improvements in the instrumentation will open up the route to testing relativistic effects in the gravitational potential of the black hole, allowing to take full advantage of this unique laboratory for celestial mechanics.
Modelling the chaotic states in terms of the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble of random matrices (GOE), we investigate the interaction of the GOE with regular bound states. The eigenvalues of the latter may or may not be embedded in the GOE spectrum. We derive a generalized form of the Pastur equation for the average Greens function. We use that equation to study the average and the variance of the shift of the regular states, their spreading width, and the deformation of the GOE spectrum non-perturbatively. We compare our results with various perturbative approaches.
We consider the motion of a particle subjected to the constant gravitational field and scattered inelasticaly by hard boundaries which possess the shape of parabola, wedge, and hyperbola. The billiard itself performs oscillations. The linear dependence of the restitution coefficient on the particle velocity is assumed. We demonstrate that this dynamical system can be either regular or chaotic, which depends on the billiard shape and the oscillation frequency. The trajectory calculations are compared with the experimental data; a good agreement has been achieved. Moreover, the properties of the system has been studied by means of the Lyapunov exponents and the Kaplan-Yorke dimension. Chaotic and nonuniform patterns visible in the experimental data are interpreted as a result of large embedding dimension.
We present the theoretical framework to efficiently solve the Jeans equations for multi-component axisymmetric stellar systems, focusing on the scaling of all quantities entering them. The models may include an arbitrary number of stellar distributions, a dark matter halo, and a central supermassive black hole; each stellar distribution is implicitly described by a two- or three-integral distribution function, and the stellar components can have different structural (density profile, flattening, mass, scale-length), dynamical (rotation, velocity dispersion anisotropy), and population (age, metallicity, initial mass function, mass-to-light ratio) properties. In order to determine the ordered rotational velocity and the azimuthal velocity dispersion fields of each component, we introduce a decomposition that can be used when the commonly adopted Satoh decomposition cannot be applied. The scheme developed is particularly suitable for a numerical implementation; we describe its realisation within our code JASMINE2, optimised to maximally exploit the scalings allowed by the Poisson and the Jeans equations, also in the post-processing procedures. As applications, we illustrate the building of three multi-component galaxy models with two distinct stellar populations, a central black hole, and a dark matter halo; we also study the solution of the Jeans equations for an exponential thick disc, and for its multi-component representation as the superposition of three Miyamoto-Nagai discs. A useful general formula for the numerical evaluation of the gravitational potential of factorised thick discs is finally given.
We report integrated orbital fits for the inner regular moons of Neptune based on the most complete astrometric data set to date, with observations from Earth-based telescopes, Voyager 2, and the Hubble Space Telescope covering 1981-2016. We summarize the results in terms of state vectors, mean orbital elements, and orbital uncertainties. The estimated masses of the two innermost moons, Naiad and Thalassa, are $GM_{Naiad}$= 0.0080 $pm$ 0.0043 $km^3 s^{-2}$ and $GM_{Thalassa}$=0.0236 $pm$ 0.0064 $km^3 s^{-2}$, corresponding to densities of 0.80 $pm$ 0.48 $g cm^{-3}$ and 1.23 $pm$ 0.43 $g cm^{-3}$, respectively. Our analysis shows that Naiad and Thalassa are locked in an unusual type of orbital resonance. The resonant argument 73 $dot{lambda}_{Thalassa}$-69 $dot{lambda}_{Naiad}$-4 $dot{Omega}_{Naiad}$ $approx$ 0 librates around 180 deg with an average amplitude of ~66 deg and a period of ~1.9 years for the nominal set of masses. This is the first fourth-order resonance discovered between the moons of the outer planets. More high precision astrometry is needed to better constrain the masses of Naiad and Thalassa, and consequently, the amplitude and the period of libration. We also report on a 13:11 near-resonance of Hippocamp and Proteus, which may lead to a mass estimate of Proteus provided that there are future observations of Hippocamp. Our fit yielded a value for Neptunes oblateness coefficient of $J_2$=3409.1$pm$2.9 $times 10^{-6}$.