Newtonian and relativistic periodic orbits around two fixed black holes (Q1209260)

The authors consider the motion of a test particle in the field of two fixed centers (black holes which are charged so that their electrostatic repulsion balances their gravitational attraction). Both relativistic and Newtonian problems are studied. Families of simple periodic orbits are calculated on the meridian plane through the fixed centers, using prolate spheroidal coordinates \((\psi,\theta,\varphi\)=const). In the relativistic case, the equations of motion take the form \({d \over ds} (U^ 4Q^ 2 \dot \psi^ 2)=E^ 2 \dot\psi {\partial \over \partial \psi}[U^ 2Q(U^ 2-1/E^ 2)]\), \({d \over ds} (U^ 4Q^ 2\dot \theta^ 2)=E^ 2 \dot\theta {\partial \over \partial \theta}[U^ 2Q(U^ 2-1/E^ 2)]\), where \(U=1+M_ 1/r_ 1+M_ 2/r_ 2\), \(r^ 2_{1,2}=x^ 2+y^ 2+(z \mp 1)^ 2\), \(Q=\cosh^ 2 \psi- \cos^ 2\theta\), while in the Newtonian case the equations can be written in the form \({1\over 2} U^ 4Q^ 2 \dot \psi^ 2=H \cosh^ 2 \psi+m \cosh \psi+\alpha\), \(-{1\over 2}U^ 4Q^ 2\dot\theta^ 2=H\cos^ 2\theta-m' \cos \theta+ \alpha\), where \(2H=E^ 2-1\), \(m,m'=2(M_ 1\pm M_ 2)\) \((E^ 2-1/2)\). The conclusion is that the characteristics of the various families of periodic orbits are different in the relativistic and Newtonian cases. The sizes of the orbits and their stabilities are also different, in general.