Stability of the Polar Equilibria in a Restricted Three-Body Problem on the Sphere

Abstract

In this paper we consider a symmetric restricted circular three-body problem on the surface S² of constant Gaussian curvature κ = 1. This problem consists in the description of the dynamics of an infinitesimal mass particle attracted by two primaries with identical masses, rotating with constant angular velocity in a fixed parallel of radius a ∈ (0, 1). It is verified that both poles of S² are equilibrium points for any value of the parameter a. This problem is modeled through a Hamiltonian system of two degrees of freedom depending on the parameter a. Using results concerning nonlinear stability, the type of Lyapunov stability (nonlinear) is provided for the polar equilibria, according to the resonances. It is verified that for the north pole there are two values of bifurcation (on the stability) \(a = \frac{{\sqrt {4 - \sqrt 2 } }}{2}\) and \(a = \sqrt {\frac{2}{3}} \), while the south pole has one value of bifurcation \(a = \frac{{\sqrt 3 }}{2}\).