3D analytical theory of the perturbed single-synchronous state. Application to the post-impact Didymos-Dimorphos system

TL;DR

This paper extends the analytical theory of the perturbed single-synchronous state in a two-body system to three dimensions, providing solutions useful for modeling post-impact states of the Didymos-Dimorphos system.

Contribution

It introduces a 3D generalization of the analytical theory, including linear and nonlinear approaches, for the perturbed SSES in non-spherical two-body systems.

Findings

Derived analytical solutions for 3D perturbations of SSES.

Showed nonlinear theory's partial integrability near resonances.

Applied formulas to model post-impact orbital and rotational states.

Abstract

We develop the 3D generalization of the planar analytical theory presented in Gaitanas et. al., 2024, which deals with states slightly perturbed from the exact `single-synchronous equilibrium state' (SSES) of the full two-body problem. The SSES corresponds to two non-spherical gravitationally interacting bodies, settled in nearly circular relative orbit, with rotation axes normal to the orbital plane, rapid rotation of the primary and synchronous rotation of the secondary. In the present paper we remove all simplifying assumptions of our previous work Gaitanas et. al., 2024, and show how to compute analytical solutions describing a 3-dimensional perturbation of the system from the SSES in the framework of two distinct theories, called `linear' and `nonlinear'. Linear theory stems from averaging the equations of motion over the primary's rapid rotation angle. This maps the SSES to an equilibrium point of the averaged system, around which analytical solutions can be computed by linearization of the equations of motion. In nonlinear theory, instead, we compute a high order normal form for the Hamiltonian of motion through a sequence of canonical transformations in the form of series. Resonances between the basic system's frequencies appear in the nonlinear theory as small divisors. We show that, close to resonances, the nonlinear theory leads to a partially integrable model, sufficient to analytically describe the evolution of the relative orbit, but only of some of the Euler angles of the system. As a basic application, we compute analytical solutions representing various possible Didymos-Dimorphos post-impact orbital and rotational states. In this case, all analytical formulas here proposed are of direct utility in fitting algorithms exploiting available time series of post-impact observational data.}}