Sensitivity of the orbital content of a model stellar system to the potential approximation used to describe it

D. D. CARPINTERO; F. C. WACHLIN

CELESTIAL MECHANICS & DYNAMICAL ASTRONOMY

Springer

Lugar: Dordrecht; Año: 2006 vol. 96 p. 129 - 136

0923-2958

We have classified orbits in a stationary triaxial stellar system created froma cold dissipationless collapse of 100,000 particles. In order to integratethe orbits, two potential approximations with different fitting functions wereused in turn. We found that the relative amount of chaotic versus regularorbits does depend on the chosen approximation of potential, even though bothmodels resulted in very good fits of the underlying exact potential. On theother hand, the content of regular orbits, i.e., its distribution among mainfamilies, does not strongly depend of the potential approximation, beingtherefore a more robust signature of the gravitational system under study.