Refraction periodic trajectories in central mass galaxies (Q2078586)

This paper deals with a new type of dynamical systems of physical interest, where two forces act in two complementary regions of the space; a Keplerian attractive center sits in the inner region, while a harmonic oscillator is acting in the outer one. In addition, the two regions are separated by an interface \(\Sigma\), where a Snell's law of ray refraction holds. Hence trajectories concatenate arcs of Keplerian hyperbola with harmonic ellipses, with a refraction at the boundary. When the interface also has a radial symmetry, then the system is integrable. The inspiration for this article came from a model of an elliptical galaxy with a central nucleus, of interest in celestial mechanics [\textit{N. Delis} et al., ``Effective power-law dependence of Lyapunov exponents on the central mass in galaxies'', Mon. No. R. Astron. Soc. 448, No. 3, 2448--2468 (2015; \url{doi:10.1093/mnras/stv064})], which deals with the dynamics of a point mass particle \(P\) moving in a galaxy with a harmonic biaxial nucleus, at the center of which there is a black hole. The authors are interested in the effect of symmetry breaking on the stability and bifurcation of periodic orbits from the homothetic collision-ejection ones. They give local conditions on the geometry of the interface for the stability and obtain a complete picture of stability and bifurcations in the elliptic case for orbits of one or two periods. In this first part of the article, the authors present the basics for the variational approach to the problem and states Snell's law. Then the existence of outer an inner arcs is analyzed. This is followed by the construction of a local map of first return, close to the homothetic trajectories. Next, the stability of such orbits is considered for general domains. Finally, the elliptic case is deepened and completed, with a special emphasis on the existence of period one and period two (brake) orbits. In the last part, the analytical study for the elliptic case, is enriched by a numerical investigation.