So close to a perfect circle

Consider the motion of a point mass under the influence of an attractive central force. The potential for the force is proportional to the inverse distance from the central point O to the point mass. For every value of the angular momentum L L of the object around O we have an equilibrium point in the radial direction, which corresponds to a circular orbit. We now consider a small perturbation of a circular orbit into a low eccentricity ellipse with the same angular momentum. If we look at the radial distance from O to the object on the elliptical orbit, we see that the distance changes from some r m i n r_{min} to r m a x r_{max} with some frequency f f . If at L 1 = 1 kg m 2 / s L_1=1~\mbox{kg}\cdot\mbox{m}^2/\mbox{s} we get f 1 = f ( L 1 ) = 1 Hz f_1=f(L_1)=1~\mbox{Hz} , find the frequency f 2 f_2 for L 2 = 10 kg m 2 / s L_2=10~\mbox{kg}\cdot\mbox{m}^2/\mbox{s} in Hz .

Bonus thought: The value of the frequency at L 3 = 0 L_3=0 (without angular momentum) is defined as the bare frequency. Is this a finite value?


The answer is 0.001.

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2 solutions

Luciano Neto
May 20, 2014

We can write the total energy of the system as a function of the distance from the center:

U ( x ) = P / x + ( L 2 ) / 2 m x 2 U(x) = P/x + (L^2)/2mx^2

So we can get the frequency for small oscillations:

d U / d x = P / x 2 ( L 2 ) / m x 3 = U ( x ) dU/dx = -P/x^2 - (L^2)/mx^3 = U'(x)

U ( r ) = 0 U'(r) = 0 implies that r is the equilibrium distance

r = ( L 2 ) / m P r = -(L^2)/mP

Now we apply this "r" to U''(x) = dU'/dx

U ( r ) = 2 P / r 3 + 3 ( L 2 ) / m r 4 U''(r) = 2P/r^3 + 3(L^2)/mr^4

U ( r ) = 2 ( P 4 ) ( m 3 ) / L 6 + 3 ( P 4 ) ( m 3 ) / L 6 = 5 ( P 4 ) ( m 3 ) / L 6 U''(r) = 2(P^4)(m^3)/L^6 + 3(P^4)(m^3)/L^6 = 5(P^4)(m^3)/L^6

We can use that the frequency for small oscillations can be written as

w = ( U ( r ) / m ) 1 / 2 w = (U''(r)/m)^{1/2}

w = ( P 2 ) m ( 5 1 / 2 ) / L 3 w = (P^2)m(5^{1/2})/L^3

Note that this frequency defines the change on the maximums and minimums of the trajectory, so we can use that:

f ( L ) L 3 f(L) ~ L^{-3}

So

f 1 / f 2 = ( L 1 / L 2 ) 3 f_1/f_2 = (L_1/L_2)^{-3}

f 2 = 0.001 H z f_2 = 0.001Hz

David Mattingly Staff
May 13, 2014

For that kind of potential, the equilibrium in the radial direction corresponds to the radius of the circular motion, and the small fluctuation will give you a "slight" ellipse, which means the time period of the oscillation is almost equal to the time period of the circular orbit. Consider at the circular orbit:

m v 2 / r 1 / r 2 v 2 r = const mv^2/r \sim 1/r^2 \Rightarrow v^2r = \mbox{const}

Using that L v r L \sim vr and f v / r f \sim v/r , we get L 3 f = const L^3f = \mbox{const} , so the frequency is proportional to inverse angular momentum scale cube!

We can write it as:

f ( L ) = f ( L 1 ) ( L 1 / L ) 3 f(L)=f(L_1) (L_1/L)^3

So, we get f ( L 2 ) = 0.001 Hz f(L_2)=0.001 ~\mbox{Hz}

At L 3 = 0 L_3=0 , the bare frequency goes to infinity. Indeed, it shows us that sometimes the bare value of a quantity in theoretical physics might not have any physical meaning!

Yes for the circular motion and motion here have the same symmetry. So f f varies inverse as L 3 L^3

Spandan Senapati - 4 years, 1 month ago

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