Minimal collision arcs asymptotic to central configurations (Q2229241)

In this paper the authors address the question of the Newtonian system of ordinary differential equations \[ \ddot{x}(t)=\nabla V(x(t)), \] where \(V\) is a \textit{not too singular} perturbation of a \(-\alpha\)-homogeneous potential \(S\). More precisely, for \(d\geq 2\), the authors introduced a function \(U\in \mathcal{C}^2(\mathbb{S}^{d-1})\) such that \[\left\{ \begin{array}{l} \exists\, s^*\in \mathbb{S}^{d-1}\, \text{s.t.}\, U(s)\geq U(s^*)>0, \forall s\in \mathbb{S}^{d-1};\\ \exists \, \delta, \mu>0 \, : \, \forall s \in \mathbb{S}^{d-1} \, \text{s.t.}\, |s-s^*|< \delta \Rightarrow U(s)-U(s^*)\geq \mu |s-s^*|^2, \end{array} \right.\] and then consider a potential \(V\in \mathcal{C}^1(\mathbb{R}^d \setminus \{0\})\) \, such that \[\left\{ \begin{array}{l} V=S+W;\\ S\in \mathcal{C}^2(\mathbb{R}^d \setminus \{0\}) \, \text{and} \, S(x)=|x|^{-\alpha} U(x/|x|),\; \text{for some}\, \alpha \in(0,2);\\ \displaystyle{\lim_{|x|\to 0}} |x|^{\alpha'} (W(x)+|x|\cdot |\nabla W(x)|)=0, \, \text{fore some}\; \alpha'<\alpha. \end{array} \right.\] Here, \(S\) has a singularity at the origin and represents a generalization of the anisotropic Kepler potential introduced by \textit{M. Gutzwiller} [``The anisotropic Kepler problem in two dimensions'', J. Math. Phys. 14, 139--152 (1973)]. On the other hand, the perturbation term \(W\) becomes negligible with respect to \(S\) when \(|x|\to 0\). The authors are concerned with two problems, the behavior of those trajectories that collide with the attraction centre in finite time ({\em collision solutions}), and their lower order perturbations. In particular, they focus on the case when the asymptotic central configuration is a global minimizer of the potential on the sphere. The technique chosen for this study relies on the use of McGehee coordinates [\textit{R. McGehee}, Invent. Math. 27, 191--227 (1974; Zbl 0297.70011)], and then establish a link between orbits contained in the local stable manifold \(W^s_{\mathrm{loc}}\) and the collision trajectories which minimize the geometric functional naturally associated with the Hamiltonian system.