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Main Author: Hadden, Sam
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.16941
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author Hadden, Sam
author_facet Hadden, Sam
contents We describe a method for calculating action-angle variables in axisymmetric galactic potentials using Birkhoff normalization, a technique from Hamiltonian perturbation theory. An advantageous feature of this method is that it yields explicit series expressions for both the forward and inverse transformations between the action-angle variables and position-velocity data. It also provides explicit expressions for the Hamiltonian and dynamical frequencies as functions of the action variables. We test this method by examining orbits in a Miyamoto-Nagai model potential and compare it to the popular Stäckel approximation method. When vertical actions are not too large, the Birkhoff normalization method achieves fractional errors smaller than a part in $10^{3}$ and outperforms the Stäckel approximation. We also show that the range over which Birkhoff normalization provides accurate results can be extended by constructing Padé approximants from the perturbative series expressions developed with the method. Numerical routines in Python for carrying out the Birkhoff normalization procedure are made available.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_16941
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Action-Angle Variables for Axisymmetric Potentials via Birkhoff Normalization
Hadden, Sam
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We describe a method for calculating action-angle variables in axisymmetric galactic potentials using Birkhoff normalization, a technique from Hamiltonian perturbation theory. An advantageous feature of this method is that it yields explicit series expressions for both the forward and inverse transformations between the action-angle variables and position-velocity data. It also provides explicit expressions for the Hamiltonian and dynamical frequencies as functions of the action variables. We test this method by examining orbits in a Miyamoto-Nagai model potential and compare it to the popular Stäckel approximation method. When vertical actions are not too large, the Birkhoff normalization method achieves fractional errors smaller than a part in $10^{3}$ and outperforms the Stäckel approximation. We also show that the range over which Birkhoff normalization provides accurate results can be extended by constructing Padé approximants from the perturbative series expressions developed with the method. Numerical routines in Python for carrying out the Birkhoff normalization procedure are made available.
title Action-Angle Variables for Axisymmetric Potentials via Birkhoff Normalization
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.16941