Related papers: Narrow rings: a scattering billiard model
Planet formation is often considered in the context of one circumstellar disk around one star. Yet stellar binary systems are ubiquitous, and thus a substantial fraction of all potential planets must form and evolve in more complex,…
The formation of self-gravitating systems is studied by simulating the collapse of a set of N particles which are generated from several distribution functions. We first establish that the results of such simulations depend on N for small…
We study the relationship between homoclinic orbits associated to repellors, usually called snap-back repellors, and expanding sets of smooth endomorphisms. Critical homoclinic orbits constitutes an interesting bifurcation that is locally…
We investigate the topological properties of dynamical states evolving on periodic oriented graphs. This evolution, that encodes the scattering processes occurring at the nodes of the graph, is described by a single-step global operator, in…
A recent work by the authors on the existence of a periodic smooth finite-dimensional center manifold near a nonhyperbolic cycle in delay differential equations motivates the derivation of periodic normal forms. In this paper, we prove the…
A simple model is presented for the formation of rolling grain ripples on a flat sand bed by the oscillatory flow generated by a surface wave. An equation of motion is derived for the individual ripples, seen as "particles", on the…
We define billiards in the context of sub-Finsler Geometry. We provide symplectic and variational (or rather, control theoretical) descriptions of the problem and show that they coincide. We then discuss several phenomena in this setting,…
Tidal disruption events, which occur when a star is shredded by the tidal field of a supermassive black hole, provide a means of fueling black hole accretion. Here we show, using a combination of three body orbit integrations and…
We study a simple analytic solution to Einstein's field equations describing a thin spherical shell consisting of collisionless particles in circular orbit. We then apply two independent criteria for the identification of circular orbits,…
Here I review recent work, by other authors and by myself, on some particular topics related to the regular and chaotic motion in elliptical galaxies. I show that it is quite possible to build highly stable triaxial stellar systems that…
Astute variations in the geometry of mathematical billiard tables have been and continue to be a source of understanding their wide range of dynamical behaviors, from regular to chaotic. Viewing standard specular billiards in the broader…
We introduce a new dynamical system that we call "tiling billiards," where trajectories refract through planar tilings. This system is motivated by a recent discovery of physical substances with negative indices of refraction. We…
It is well-known for vibro-impact systems that the existence of a periodic solution with a low-velocity impact (so-called grazing) may yield complex behavior of the solutions. In this paper we show that unstable periodic motions which pass…
Planetary rings produce a distinct shape distortion in transit lightcurves. However, to accurately model such lightcurves the observations need to cover the entire transit, especially ingress and egress, as well as an out-of-transit…
Have you ever played or watched a game of pool? If so, you have already seen a billiard system in action. In mathematics and physics, a billiard system describes a ball that moves in straight lines and bounces off walls. Despite these…
Properties of spatially dependent relaxation oscillations near a SNIPER bifurcation are described. A SNIPER bifurcation creates a large-amplitude long-period periodic orbit via the annihilation of a pair of fixed points in a saddle-node…
The kinetics of aggregation in a monolayer of magnetic particles are studied using stochastic dynamics computer simulations. At low densities (<8% coverage) the equilibrium structure is made up of chains and rings; the primary mechanisms by…
Magnetic layers are narrow regions where the field direction changes sharply. They often occur in the association with neutral points of the magnetic field. We show that an organised field can produce these structures near a rotating black…
We discuss the localization of wavefunctions along planes containing the shortest periodic orbits in a three-dimensional billiard system with axial symmetry. This model mimicks the self-consistent mean field of a heavy nucleus at…
Motivated by misaligned discs observed in eccentric orbit Be/X-ray binaries, we examine the evolution of a retrograde disc around one component of an eccentric binary with hydrodynamic simulations, $n$-body simulations and linear theory.…