High Order Phase-fitted Discrete Lagrangian Integrators for Orbital Problems

TL;DR

This paper introduces high order discrete Lagrangian integrators with phase fitting, significantly enhancing accuracy and energy conservation in orbital Hamiltonian systems, especially for highly eccentric and chaotic cases.

Contribution

It develops a novel phase-fitted discrete Lagrangian integrator with an efficient frequency estimation method, improving long-term accuracy in orbital simulations.

Findings

Dramatic improvement in accuracy and energy behavior for high eccentricity orbits.

Effective handling of chaotic Hamiltonian systems like Henon-Heiles.

Successful long-term simulation over one million periods.

Abstract

In this work, the benefits of the phase fitting technique are embedded in high order discrete Lagrangian integrators. The proposed methodology creates integrators with zero phase lag in a test Lagrangian in a similar way used in phase fitted numerical methods for ordinary differential equations. Moreover, an efficient method for frequency evaluation is proposed based on the eccentricities of the moving objects. The results show that the new method dramatically improves the accuracy and total energy behaviour in Hamiltonian systems. Numerical tests for the 2-body problem with ultra high eccentricity up to 0.99 for 1000000 periods and to the Henon-Heiles Hamiltonian system with chaotic behaviour, show the efficiency of the proposed approach.