Abstract
The method of minimization of action is a powerful technique of proving the existence of particular and interesting solutions of the n-body problem, but it suffers from the possible interference of singularities. The minimization of action is an optimization and, after a short presentation of a few optimization theories, our analysis of interference of singularities will show that:
(A) An n-body solution minimizing the action between given boundary conditions has no discontinuity: all n-bodies have a continuous and bounded motion and thus all eventual singularities are collisions;
(B) A beautiful extension of Lambert's theorem shows that, for these minimizing solutions, no double collision can occur at an intermediate time;
(C) The proof can be extended to triple and to multiple collisions. Thus, the method of minimization of action leads to pure n-body motions without singularity at any intermediate time, even if one or several collisions are imposed at initial and/or final times.
This method is suitable for non-infinitesimal masses only. Fortunately, a similar method, with the same general property with respect to the singularities, can be extended to n-body problems including infinitesimal masses.
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Marchal, C. How the Method of Minimization of Action Avoids Singularities. Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy 83, 325–353 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020128408706
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020128408706