Relative equilibria, linear stability and electromagnetic curvature

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Asselle, Luca, Testolina, Giorgia
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Asselle, Luca
Testolina, Giorgia
author_facet Asselle, Luca
Testolina, Giorgia
contents In this paper we study the linear stability of relative equilibria in the Newtonian $n$-body problem from the viewpoint of electromagnetic systems. We first examine the effect of the ambient dimension on stability, starting from the Lagrange equilateral triangle solutions of the three-body problem in $\mathbb R^4$. We then initiate a new approach to stability based on electromagnetic curvature. In a two-dimensional model, we relate linear stability to both the Mañé critical value and to the behavior of the zero set of the electromagnetic curvature, highlighting a change in its topology at the stability threshold. This criterion is then applied to the planar $n$-body problem: in the three-body case, we recover Routh's classical criterion, and, more generally, we obtain an instability criterion for relative equilibria whose reduced linearized dynamics splits along invariant symplectic planes. These results suggest a new geometric perspective on linear stability and on questions related to Moeckel's conjecture.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_07975
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Relative equilibria, linear stability and electromagnetic curvature
Asselle, Luca
Testolina, Giorgia
Dynamical Systems
In this paper we study the linear stability of relative equilibria in the Newtonian $n$-body problem from the viewpoint of electromagnetic systems. We first examine the effect of the ambient dimension on stability, starting from the Lagrange equilateral triangle solutions of the three-body problem in $\mathbb R^4$. We then initiate a new approach to stability based on electromagnetic curvature. In a two-dimensional model, we relate linear stability to both the Mañé critical value and to the behavior of the zero set of the electromagnetic curvature, highlighting a change in its topology at the stability threshold. This criterion is then applied to the planar $n$-body problem: in the three-body case, we recover Routh's classical criterion, and, more generally, we obtain an instability criterion for relative equilibria whose reduced linearized dynamics splits along invariant symplectic planes. These results suggest a new geometric perspective on linear stability and on questions related to Moeckel's conjecture.
title Relative equilibria, linear stability and electromagnetic curvature
topic Dynamical Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.07975