English

Newtonian restricted three-body gravitational problem with positive and negative point masses

Classical Physics 2024-12-05 v1 Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Solar and Stellar Astrophysics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

The Newtonian restricted three-body problem involving a positive primary point mass, m+m_+, and a negative secondary point mass, mm_-, in a circular orbit, and a positive or negative tertiary point mass, m3m_3, with m+>mm3m_+ > |m_-| \gg |m_3|, is solved. Five Lagrange points are found for m3m_3, three of which are coplanar with m+m_+ and mm_-, and two of which are not, a subtle consequence of the gravitational repulsion from mm_-. All Lagrange points are linearly unstable, except for one point in the regime m+8.4mm_+ \gtrsim 8.4 |m_-|, which is linearly stable and collinear with m+m_+ and mm_-.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2411.00933,
  title  = {Newtonian restricted three-body gravitational problem with positive and negative point masses},
  author = {K. H. Thong and A. Melatos},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.00933},
  year   = {2024}
}