Choreographic solution to the general-relativistic three-body problem.
We reexamine the three-body problem in the framework of general relativity. The Newtonian N-body problem admits choreographic solutions, where a solution is called choreographic if every massive particle moves periodically in a single closed orbit. One is a stable figure-eight orbit for a three-body system, which was found first by Moore (1993) and rediscovered with its existence proof by Chenciner and Montgomery (2000). In general relativity, however, the periastron shift prohibits a binary system from orbiting in a single closed curve. Therefore, it is unclear whether general-relativistic effects admit choreography such as the figure eight. We examine general-relativistic corrections to initial conditions so that an orbit for a three-body system can be choreographic and a figure eight. This illustration suggests that the general-relativistic N-body problem also may admit a certain class of choreographic solutions.
Imai
Tatsunori
T
Faculty of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki 036-8561, Japan.
Chiba
Takamasa
T
Asada
Hideki
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