We investigate the regular or chaotic nature of star orbits moving in the meridional plane of an axially symmetric galactic model with a disk and a spherical nucleus. We study the influence of some important parameters of the dynamical system, such as the mass and the scale length of the nucleus, the angular momentum or the energy, by computing in each case the percentage of chaotic orbits, as well as the percentages of orbits of the main regular resonant families. Some heuristic arguments to explain and justify the numerically derived outcomes are also given. Furthermore, we present a new method to find the threshold between chaos and regularity for both Lyapunov Characteristic Numbers and SALI, by using them simultaneously.

In this paper we use the planar circular restricted three-body problem where one of the primary bodies is an oblate spheroid or an emitter of radiation in order to determine the basins of attraction associated with the equilibrium points. The evolution of the position of the five Lagrange points is monitored when the values of the mass ratio µ, the oblateness coefficient A 1 , and the radiation pressure factor q vary in predefined intervals. The regions on the configuration (x, y) plane occupied by the basins of attraction are revealed using the multivariate version of the Newton-Raphson method. The correlations between the basins of convergence of the equilibrium points and the corresponding number of iterations needed in order to obtain the desired accuracy are also illustrated. We conduct a thorough and systematic numerical investigation demonstrating how the dynamical quantities µ, A 1 , and q influence the basins of attractions. Our results suggest that the mass ratio and the radiation pressure factor are the most influential parameters, while on the other hand the structure of the basins of convergence are much less affected by the oblateness coefficient.

The case of the planar circular restricted three-body problem where one of the two primaries is an oblate spheroid is investigated. We conduct a thorough numerical analysis on the phase space mixing by classifying initial conditions of orbits and distinguishing between three types of motion: (i) bounded, (ii) escape and (iii) collisional. The presented outcomes reveal the high complexity of this dynamical system. Furthermore, our numerical analysis shows a strong dependence of the properties of the considered escape basins with the total orbital energy, with a remarkable presence of fractal basin boundaries along all the escape regimes. Interpreting the collisional motion as leaking in the phase space we related our results to both chaotic scattering and the theory of leaking Hamiltonian systems. We also determined the escape and collisional basins and computed the corresponding escape/crash times. The highly fractal basin boundaries observed are related with high sensitivity to initial conditions thus implying an uncertainty between escape solutions which evolve to different regions of the phase space. We hope our contribution to be useful for a further understanding of the escape and crash mechanism of orbits in this version of the restricted three-body problem.

In the present article, we present a new gravitational galactic model, describing motion in elliptical as well as in disk galaxies, by suitably choosing the dynamical parameters. Moreover, a new dynamical parameter, the S(g) spectrum, is introduced and used, in order to detect islandic motion of resonant orbits and the evolution of the sticky regions. We investigate the regular or chaotic character of motion, with emphasis in the different dynamical models and make an extensive study of the sticky regions of the system. We use the classical method of the Poincaré (r − p r ) phase plane and the new dynamical parameter of the S(g) spectrum. The L.C.E is used, in order to make an estimation of the degree of chaos in our galactic model. In both cases, the numerical calculations, suggest that our new model, displays a wide variety of families of regular orbits, compared to other galactic models. In addition to the regular motion, this new model displays also chaotic regions. Furthermore, the extent of the chaotic regions increases, as the value of the flatness parameter b of the model increases. Moreover, our simulations indicate, that the degree of chaos in elliptical galaxies, is much smaller than that in dense disk galaxies. In both cases numerical calculations show, that the degree of chaos increases linearly, as the flatness parameter b increases. In addition, a linear relationship between the critical value of angular momentum and the b parameter if found, in both cases (elliptical and disk galaxies). Some theoretical arguments to support the numerical outcomes are presented. Comparison with earlier work is also made.

In the present article, we use an axially symmetric galactic gravitational model with a disk-halo and a spherical nucleus, in order to investigate the transition from regular to chaotic motion for stars moving in the meridian (r, z) plane. We study in detail the transition from regular to chaotic motion, in two different cases: the time independent model and the time evolving model. In both cases, we explored all the available range regarding the values of the main involved parameters of the dynamical system. In the time dependent model, we follow the evolution of orbits as the galaxy develops a dense and massive nucleus in its core, as mass is transported exponentially from the disk to the galactic center. We apply the classical method of the Poincaré (r, p r ) phase plane, in order to distinguish between ordered and chaotic motion. The Lyapunov Characteristic Exponent is used, to make an estimation of the degree of chaos in our galactic model and also to help us to study the time dependent model. In addition, we construct some numerical diagrams in which we present the correlations between the main parameters of our galactic model. Our numerical calculations indicate, that stars with values of angular momentum L z less than or equal to a critical value L zc , moving near to the galactic plane, are scattered to the halo upon encountering the nuclear region and subsequently display chaotic motion. A linear relationship exists between the critical value of the angular momentum L zc and the mass of the nucleus M n . Furthermore, the extent of the chaotic region increases as the value of the mass of the nucleus increases. Moreover, our simulations indicate that the degree of chaos increases linearly, as the mass of the nucleus increases. A comparison is made between the critical value L zc and the circular angular momentum L z0 at different distances from the galactic center. In the time dependent model, there are orbits that change their orbital character from regular to chaotic and vise versa and also orbits that maintain their character during the galactic evolution. These results strongly indicate that the ordered or chaotic nature of orbits, depends on the presence of massive objects in the galactic cores of the galaxies. Our results suggest, that for disk galaxies with massive and prominent nuclei, the low angular momentum stars in the associated central regions of the galaxy, must be in predominantly chaotic orbits. Some theoretical arguments to support the numerically derived outcomes are presented. Comparison with similar previous works is also made.

We numerically explore the Newton-Raphson basins of convergence, related to the libration points (which act as attractors), in the planar circular restricted five-body problem (CR5BP). The evolution of the position and the linear stability of the equilibrium points is determined, as a function of the value of the mass parameter. The attracting regions, on several types of two dimensional planes, are revealed by using the multivariate version of the classical Newton-Raphson iterative method. We perform a systematic investigation in an attempt to understand how the mass parameter affects the geometry as well as the degree of fractality of the basins of attraction. The regions of convergence are also related with the required number of iterations and also with the corresponding probability distributions.

Abstract:In the present article, we investigate the behavior of orbits in a time-independent axially symmetric galactic-type potential. This dynamical model can be considered to describe the motion in the central parts of a galaxy, for values of energies larger than the energy of escape. We use the classical surfaceof-section method in order to visualize and interpret the structure of the phase space of the dynamical system. Moreover, the Lyapunov characteristic exponent is used in order to make an estimation of the degree of chaoticity of the orbits in our galactic model. Our numerical calculations suggest that in this galactic-type potential there are two kinds of orbits: (i) escaping orbits and (ii) trapped orbits, which do not escape at all. Furthermore, a large number of orbits of the dynamical system display chaotic motion. Among the chaotic orbits, there are orbits that escape quickly and also orbits that remain trapped for vast time intervals. When the value of a test particle's energy slightly exceeds the energy of escape, the number of trapped regular orbits increases as the value of the angular momentum increases. Therefore, the extent of the chaotic regions observed in the phase plane decreases as the energy value increases. Moreover, we calculate the average value of the escape period of chaotic orbits and try to correlate it with the value of the energy and also with the maximum value of the z component of the orbits. In addition, we find that the value of the Lyapunov characteristic exponent corresponding to each chaotic region for different values of energy increases exponentially as the energy increases. Some theoretical arguments are presented in order to support the numerically obtained outcomes.

Aims. The distinction between regular and chaotic motion in galaxies is undoubtedly an issue of paramount importance. We explore the nature of orbits of stars moving in the meridional plane (R, z) of an axially symmetric galactic model with a disk, a spherical nucleus, and a flat biaxial dark matter halo component. In particular, we study the influence of all the involved parameters of the dynamical system by computing both the percentage of chaotic orbits and the percentages of orbits of the main regular resonant families in each case. Methods. To distinguish between ordered and chaotic motion, we use the smaller alignment index (SALI) method to extensive samples of orbits by numerically integrating the equations of motion as well as the variational equations. Moreover, a method based on the concept of spectral dynamics that utilizes the Fourier transform of the time series of each coordinate is used to identify the various families of regular orbits and also to recognize the secondary resonances that bifurcate from them. Two cases are studied for every parameter: (i) the case where the halo component is prolate and (ii) the case where an oblate dark halo is present. Results. Our numerical investigation indicates that all the dynamical quantities affect, more or less, the overall orbital structure. It was observed that the mass of the nucleus, the halo flattening parameter, the scale length of the halo, the angular momentum, and the orbital energy are the most influential quantities, while the effect of all the other parameters is much weaker. It was also found that all the parameters corresponding to the disk only have a minor influence on the nature of orbits. Furthermore, some other quantities, such as the minimum distance to the origin, the horizontal, and the vertical force, were tested as potential chaos detectors. Our analysis revealed that only general information can be obtained from these quantities. We also compared our results with early related work.