Order and chaos in a three dimensional galaxy model

TL;DR

This paper investigates the orbital dynamics of a realistic 3D galaxy model, analyzing how the properties of the dark matter halo influence the balance between regular and chaotic motion in the galaxy.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of phase space regions in a 3D galaxy model, highlighting the effects of halo triaxiality and symmetry breaking on orbital behavior.

Findings

Regions of regular and chaotic motion depend on halo triaxiality.

The 4D Poincaré map reveals invariant subsets affecting orbital dynamics.

Parameter variations significantly influence orbital stability.

Abstract

We explore the orbital dynamics of a realistic three dimensional model describing the properties of a disk galaxy with a spherically symmetric central dense nucleus and a triaxial dark matter halo component. Regions of phase space with regular and chaotic motion are identified depending on the parameter values for triaxiality of the dark matter halo and for breaking the rotational symmetry. The four dimensional Poincar\'e map of the three degrees of freedom system is analyzed by a study of its restriction to various two dimensional invariant subsets of its domain.