Geometric properties of minimizers in the planar three-body problem with two equal masses

TL;DR

This paper investigates the geometric properties of minimizers in the planar three-body problem with two equal masses, revealing conditions under which minimizers are star-shaped, monotone, or have limited critical points, aiding in the existence proofs of periodic orbits.

Contribution

It establishes new geometric criteria for minimizers in the three-body problem, linking Jacobi coordinate orientations to their shape and monotonicity properties.

Findings

Minimizers with Jacobi coordinates in adjacent quadrants stay in adjacent quadrants.

If Jacobi coordinates are orthogonal at one end, polar angles have at most one critical point.

Orthogonality at both ends implies monotonic polar angles.

Abstract

It it shown that each lobe of the figure-eight orbit is star-shaped, which implies the polar angle is monotone in each lobe. In general, it is not clear when a minimizer is star-shaped. In this paper, we study minimizers connecting two fixed-ends (i.e. the Bolza problem) in the planar three-body problem with two equal masses. We show that if the Jacobi coordinates of the two fixed-ends are in adjacent closed quadrants, then the corresponding minimizer must stay in two adjacent closed quadrants. If we further assume the two Jacobi coordinates are orthogonal on one of the fixed-ends, then the polar angles of the Jacobi coordinates in the minimizer have at most one critical point. If the two Jacobi coordinates are orthogonal on both ends, then the two polar angles must be monotone. These geometric properties can be applied to show the existence of two sets of periodic orbits.