Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2506 - 2509 (1999)

Coorbital Dynamics at Large Eccentricity and Inclination

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F. Namouni, A. A. Christou, and C. D. Murray
Astronomy Unit, Queen Mary and Westfield College, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom

Featured in Phys. Rev. Focus Received 14 May 1999

We show that coorbital dynamics at large eccentricity and inclination exhibit hitherto unknown types of stable motion in the gravitational three-body problem. In the solar system, the secular stability is observed in the evolution of specific near-Earth asteroids. In particular, the slow diffusion of such objects through the Earth's coorbital region which leads to temporary capture suggests the existence of undiscovered retrograde moons of the Earth. In the Coulomb problem, the Kozai resonance is a primary candidate for stable low angular momentum states in two-electron atoms.


©1999 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2506
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2506
PACS: 95.10.Ce, 31.15.Md, 96.30.Ys

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