A new set of integrals of motion to propagate the perturbed two-body problem

• Published in: Celestial mechanics and dynamical astronomy 2013-05, Vol.116 (1), p.53-78
• Main Authors: Baù, Giulio, Bombardelli, Claudio, Peláez, Jesús
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerospace Technology and Astronautics; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Chemical elements; Classical Mechanics; Differential equations; Dynamical Systems and Ergodic Theory; Geophysics/Geodesy; Orbits; Original Article; Physics; Physics and Astronomy
• ISSN: 0923-2958; 1572-9478
• DOI: 10.1007/s10569-013-9475-x

A formulation of the perturbed two-body problem that relies on a new set of orbital elements is presented. The proposed method represents a generalization of the special perturbation method published by Peláez et al. (Celest Mech Dyn Astron 97(2):131–150, 2007 ) for the case of a perturbing force that is partially or totally derivable from a potential. We accomplish this result by employing a generalized Sundman time transformation in the framework of the projective decomposition, which is a known approach for transforming the two-body problem into a set of linear and regular differential equations of motion. Numerical tests, carried out with examples extensively used in the literature, show the remarkable improvement of the performance of the new method for different kinds of perturbations and eccentricities. In particular, one notable result is that the quadratic dependence of the position error on the time-like argument exhibited by Peláez’s method for near-circular motion under the perturbation is transformed into linear. Moreover, the method reveals to be competitive with two very popular element methods derived from the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel and Sperling-Burdet regularizations.