JANUS: a bit-wise reversible integrator for N-body dynamics

Abstract

Hamiltonian systems such as the gravitational N-body problem have time-reversal symmetry. However, all numerical N-body integration schemes, including symplectic ones, respect this property only approximately. In this paper, we present the new N-body integrator janus , for which we achieve exact time-reversal symmetry by combining integer and floating point arithmetic. janus is explicit, formally symplectic and satisfies Liouville's theorem exactly. Its order is even and can be adjusted between two and ten. We discuss the implementation of janus and present tests of its accuracy and speed by performing and analysing long-term integrations of the Solar system. We show that janus is fast and accurate enough to tackle a broad class of dynamical problems. We also discuss the practical and philosophical implications of running exactly time-reversible simulations.