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Long-Term Cycling of Kozai-Lidov Cycles: Extreme Eccentricities and Inclinations Excited by a Distant Eccentric Perturber

Boaz Katz et al. (2011)

Published
Oct 27, 2011
Journal
Physical Review Letters · Vol. 107 · No. 18
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.181101

At a GlanceAI

Shows eccentric distant perturbers can drive long-term Kozai-Lidov cycling to extreme eccentricities and inclinations.

SummaryAI

The work highlights a regime of Kozai–Lidov dynamics where a distant companion’s eccentricity causes the inner body’s eccentricity and inclination to undergo slow, long-term modulation rather than repeating identical cycles. It emphasizes that this “cycling of cycles” can push orbits to far more extreme eccentricities and inclinations than standard Kozai–Lidov theory with a circular outer perturber would suggest. This broadens expectations for how hierarchical systems evolve and helps explain pathways to very high-eccentricity outcomes in celestial mechanics contexts where the perturber is not circular.

Method SnapshotAI

Analytical secular-dynamics treatment of Kozai–Lidov evolution with an eccentric outer perturber.

BackgroundAI

Celestial mechanics with secular perturbation theory and classical Kozai–Lidov resonance concepts.