Stability of relative equilibria in arbitrary axisymmetric gravitational and magnetic fields (Q1975861)

The author derives sufficient conditions for Lyapunov stability of circular orbits in arbitrary axisymmetric gravitational, electrostatic, and magnetic fields. The effects of local mass change and current density are taken into account. Simple stability conditions are derived for source-free regions in harmonic gravitational fields and in irrotational magnetic fields. In these cases, the stability conditions are expressed in terms of dimensionless indices. As examples of application, the author discusses the problem of two fixed centers, \(J_2\)-planetary model, the problem of oblate spheroids, finite thin disks, stability of isolated equilibria, toroidal quadrupole fields, and axisymmetric \(\vec E\times\vec B\) problem.