Chaos in the Outer Solar System

Abstract

We study the effect of a perturber on the energy and angular momentum of a test particle on a highly eccentric orbit. We find that both the energy and angular momentum of the test particle are adiabatic invariants when the perturber is on a circular orbit with radius much smaller than the periaps of the test particle. We derive analytical expression for the energy change, or kick, of the test particle with every periaps passage. Using this kick function we formulate mapping for the highly eccentric test particle. We also analyze the stability of resonances and find conditions for asymmetric libration to occur. The resonance widths for highly eccentric orbits are calculated and the criterion for the onset of global chaos is determined.

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