English

The Great Inequality In A Hamiltonian Planetary Theory

chao-dyn 2012-08-27 v2 Chaotic Dynamics

Abstract

The Jupiter-Saturn 2:5 near-commensurability is analyzed in a fully analytic Hamiltonian planetary theory. Computations for the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system, extending to the third order of the masses and to the 8th degree in the eccentricities and inclinations, reveal an unexpectedly sensitive dependence of the solution on initial data and its likely nonconvergence. The source of the sensitivity and apparent lack of convergence is this near-commensurability, the so-called great inequality. This indicates that simple averaging, still common in current semi-analytic planetary theories, may not be an adequate technique to obtain information on the long-term dynamics of the Solar System. Preliminary results suggest that these difficulties can be overcome by using resonant normal forms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.chao-dyn/9311011,
  title  = {The Great Inequality In A Hamiltonian Planetary Theory},
  author = {F. Varadi and M. Ghil and W. M. Kaula and Keywords and : and Hamiltonian systems and planetary motion and perturbation theory and resonances},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:chao-dyn/9311011},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

6 pages, PostScript, compressed and uuencoded, 150KB, figures included, hard copy available upon request