Jacobi stability analysis of the classical restricted three body problem

Abstract: The circular restricted three body problem, which considers the dynamics of an infinitesimal particle in the presence of the gravitational interaction with two massive bodies moving on circular orbits about their common center of mass, is a very useful model for investigating the behavior of real astronomical objects in the Solar System. In such a system, there are five Lagrangian equilibrium points, and one important characteristic of the motion is the existence of linearly stable equilibria at the two equilibrium points that form equilateral triangles with the primaries, in the plane of the primaries' orbit. We analyze the stability of motion in the restricted three body problem by using the concept of Jacobi stability, as introduced and developed in the Kosambi-Cartan-Chern (KCC) theory. The KCC theory is a differential geometric approach to the variational equations describing the deviation of the whole trajectory of a dynamical system with respect to the nearby ones. We obtain the general result that, from the point of view of the KCC theory and of Jacobi stability, all five Lagrangian equilibrium points of the restricted three body problem are unstable.