Pseudo-Newtonian planar circular restricted 3-body problem

Abstract

We study the dynamics of the planar circular restricted three-body problem in the context of a pseudo-Newtonian approximation. By using the Fodor–Hoenselaers–Perjés procedure, we perform an expansion in the mass potential of a static massive spherical source up to the first non-Newtonian term, giving place to a gravitational potential that includes first-order general relativistic effects. With this result, we model a system composed by two pseudo-Newtonian primaries describing circular orbits around their common center of mass, and a test particle orbiting the system in the equatorial plane. The dynamics of the new system of equations is studied in terms of the Poincaré section method and the Lyapunov exponents, where the introduction of a new parameter ϵ, allows us to observe the transition from the Newtonian to the pseudo-Newtonian regime. We show that when the Jacobian constant is fixed, a chaotic orbit in the Newtonian regime can be either chaotic or regular in the pseudo-Newtonian approach. As a general result, we find that most of the pseudo-Newtonian configurations are less stable than their Newtonian equivalent.