Normally stable Hamiltonian systems (Q1946348)

The authors give a stability criterion for an equilibrium of an autonomous Hamiltonian system with \(n\) degrees of freedom. They introduce a new concept of stability called normal stability which applies to systems in normal form and relies on the existence of a formal integral whose quadratic part is positive definite. They give necessary and sufficient conditions for normal stability and compare it to formal stability and Lyapunov stability. They then apply it to the stability of the Lagrange points \(L_4\) and \(L_5\) in the spatial circular three body problem.