Abstract
It is assumed that the accumulation of small, independent, random perturbations in the reciprocal semimajor axis of the orbit of a comet follows a normal distribution law whose standard deviation is a function of the inclination and perihelion distance and that for nongravitational forces it is a function of perihelion distances only; it is also assumed that secular accelerations do not change into decelerations, and vice versa. The standard deviations given by diffusion theory are in good agreement with the mean values of nongravitational impulses obtained from calculations from short overlapping arcs. The mean lifetime of a comet is found to be one hundred revolutions. To explain why many more near-parabolic comets are actually discovered than are theoretically expected the existence of comets of very short lifetimes must be accepted.
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