Bounded orbits for three bodies in \(\mathbb{R}^4\) (Q6895933)

This paper continues the previous work of the authors [J. Geom. Mech. 12, No. 3, 323--341 (2020; Zbl 1459.37082)] on the three-body problem in \(\mathbb{R}^4\) with fixed angular momentum of full rank. It was shown there that the energy function is bounded from below on the corresponding reduced phase space, but it was left open whether the infimum is actually attained. The main result of the present paper is that the infimum of the energy cannot be realized at infinity and therefore coincides with its minimum.\N\NThe proof is based on the analysis of unbounded sequences of states with prescribed angular momentum. It is shown that any such sequence whose energy converges to the infimum must asymptotically reduce to a two-body configuration, leading to explicit candidate values for the energy at infinity. By constructing sequences with strictly smaller energy approaching these values, the authors exclude the possibility that the infimum is attained at infinity.\N\NThe paper also discusses the associated critical values at infinity and their role in the energy-momentum diagram, extending previous results. This completes the argument for the existence of Lyapunov stable relative equilibria.