Manuele Santoprete

Wilfrid Laurier University | WLU · Department of Mathematics

In this paper, we study a nonholonomic mechanical system, namely, the Suslov problem with the Clebsch–Tisserand potential. We analyze the topology of the level sets defined by the integrals in two ways: using an explicit construction and as a consequence of the Poincaré–Hopf theorem. We describe the flow on such manifolds.

Radicalization is the process by which people come to adopt increasingly extreme political, social or religious ideologies. When radicalization leads to violence radical thinking becomes a threat to national security. Prevention and de-radicalization programs are part of a set of strategies used to combat violent extremism, which are collectively k...

We study central configurations of the Newtonian four-body problem that form a trapezoid. Using a topological argument we prove that there is at most one trapezoidal central configuration for each cyclic ordering of the masses.

We study central configurations lying on a common circle in the Newtonian four-body problem. Using a topological argument we prove that there is at most one co-circular central configuration for each cyclic ordering of the masses on the circle.

We study central configurations of the Newtonian four-body problem that form a trapezoid. Using a topological argument we prove that there is at most one trapezoidal central configuration for each cyclic ordering of the masses.

In this paper, we investigate some polynomial conditions that arise from Euclidean geometry. First we study polynomials related to quadrilaterals with supplementary angles, this includes convex cyclic quadrilaterals, as well as certain concave quadrilaterals. Then we consider polynomials associated with quadrilaterals with some equal angles, which...

We study central configurations lying on a common circle in the Newtonian four-body problem. Using a topological argument we prove that there is at most one co-circular central configuration for each cyclic ordering of the masses on the circle.

We examine the relative equilibria of the four vortex problem where three vortices have equal strength, that is Γ1 = Γ2 = Γ3 = 1 and Γ4 = m, where m is a parameter. We study the problem in the case of the classical logarithmic vortex Hamiltonian and in the case the Hamiltonian is a homogeneous function of degree α. First we study the bifurcations e...

The term radicalization refers to the process of developing extremist religious political or social beliefs and ideologies. Radicalization becomes a threat to national security when it leads to violence. Prevention and de-radicalization initiatives are part of a set of strategies used to combat violent extremism, which taken together are known as C...

Radicalization is the process by which people come to adopt increasingly extreme political, social or religious ideologies. When radicalization leads to violence, radical thinking becomes a threat to national security. De-radicalization programs are part of an effort to combat violent extremism and terrorism. This type of initiatives attempt to alt...

Radicalization is the process by which people come to adopt increasingly extreme political or religious ideologies. While radical thinking is by no means problematic in itself, it becomes a threat to national security when it leads to violence. We introduce a simple compartmental model (similar to epidemiology models) to describe the radicalization...

Radicalization is the process by which people come to adopt increasingly extreme political or religious ideologies. While radical thinking is by no means problematic in itself, it becomes a threat to national security when it leads to violence. We introduce a simple compartmental model (similar to epidemiology models) to describe the radicalization...

We study four-body central configurations with one pair of opposite sides parallel. We use a novel constraint to write the central configuration equations in this special case, using distances as variables. We prove that, for a given ordering of the mutual distances, a trapezoidal central configuration must have a certain partial ordering of the ma...

We discuss several conditions for four points to lie on a plane, and we use them to find new equations for four-body central configurations that use angles as variables. We use these equations to give novel proofs of some results for four-body central configuration. We also give a clear geometrical explanation of why Ptolemy's theorem can be used t...

In this paper, we study a nonholonomic mechanical system, namely the Suslov problem with the Klebsh-Tisserand potential. We analyze the topology of the level sets defined by the integrals in two ways: using an explicit construction and as a consequence of the Poincar\'e-Hopf theorem. We describe the flow on such manifolds.

We study the bifurcations of central configurations of the Newtonian four-body problem when some of the masses are equal. First, we continue numerically the solutions for the equal mass case, and we find values of the mass parameter at which the number of solutions changes. Then, using the Krawczyk method and some result of equivariant bifurcation...

Abstract. We give a characterization of linear canonoid transformations on symplectic manifolds and we use it to generate biHamiltonian structures for some mechanical systems. Utilizing this characterization we also study the behavior of the harmonic oscillator under canonoid transformations. We present a description of canonoid transformations due...

Bi-Hamiltonian structures are of great importance in the theory of integrable Hamiltonian systems. The notion of compatibility of symplectic structures is a key aspect of bi-Hamiltonian systems. Because of this, a few different notions of compatibility have been introduced. In this paper we show that, under some additional assumptions, compatibilit...

We examine in detail the relative equilibria of the 4-vortex problem when three vortices have equal strength, that is, $\Gamma_{1} = \Gamma_{2} = \Gamma_{3} = 1$, and $\Gamma_{4}$ is a real parameter. We give the exact number of relative equilibria and bifurcation values. We also study the relative equilibria in the vortex rhombus problem.

We give a characterization of linear canonoid transformations on symplectic manifolds and we use it to generate biHamiltonian structures for some mechanical systems. Utilizing this characterization we also study the behavior of the harmonic oscillator under canonoid transformations. We present a description of canonoid transformations due to E.T. W...

We study the motion of a particle in the hyperbolic plane (embedded in Minkowski space), under the action of a potential that depends only on one variable. This problem is the analogous to the spherical pendulum in a unidirectional force field. However, for the discussion of the hyperbolic plane one has to distinguish three inequivalent cases, depe...

This paper studies the topology of the constant energy surfaces of the double spherical pendulum.

We examine in detail the relative equilibria in the planar four-vortex problem where two pairs of vortices have equal strength, that is, Γ 1=Γ 2=1 and Γ 3=Γ 4=m where \(m \in \mathbb{R} - \{0\}\) is a parameter. One main result is that, for m>0, the convex configurations all contain a line of symmetry, forming a rhombus or an isosceles trapezoid. T...

In this paper we regularize the Kepler problem on $S^3$ in several different ways. First, we perform a Moser-type regularization. Then, we adapt the Ligon-Schaaf regularization to our problem. Finally, we show that the Moser regularization and the Ligon-Schaaf map we obtained can be understood as the composition of the corresponding maps for the Ke...

We analyze the singularities of the equations of motion and several types of singular solutions of the n-body problem in spaces of positive constant curvature. Apart from collisions, the equations encounter noncollision singularities, which occur when two or more bodies are antipodal. This conclusion leads, on the one hand, to hybrid solution singu...

We extend the Newtonian n-body problem of celestial mechanics to spaces of curvature κ=constant and provide a unified framework for studying the motion. In the 2-dimensional case, we prove the existence of several classes of relative equilibria, including the Lagrangian and Eulerian solutions for any κ≠0 and the hyperbolic rotations for κ<0. These...

The present paper studies the escape mechanism in collinear three point mass systems with small-range-repulsive/large-range-attractive pairwise-interaction. Specifically, we focus on systems with non-negative total energy. We show that on the zero energy level set, most of the orbits lead to binary escape configurations and the set of initial condi...

Consider the motion of a material point of unit mass in a central field determined by a homogeneous potential of the form $(-1/r^{\alpha})$, $\alpha>0,$ where $r$ being the distance to the centre of the field. Due to the singularity at $r=0,$ in computer-based simulations, usually, the potential is replaced by a similar potential that is smooth, or...

We consider $n$-body problems given by potentials of the form ${\alpha\over r^a}+{\beta\over r^b}$ with $a,b,\alpha,\beta$ constants, $0\le a<b$. To analyze the dynamics of the problem, we first prove some properties related to central configurations, including a generalization of Moulton's theorem. Then we obtain several qualitative properties for...

The main result of this paper is the existence of a new family of central configurations in the Newtonian spatial seven-body problem. This family is unusual in that it is a simplex stacked central configuration, i.e the bodies are arranged as concentric three and two dimensional simplexes. Comment: 15 pages 5 figures

In this paper we find a class of new degenerate central configurations and bifurcations in the Newtonian n-body problem. In particular we analyze the Rosette central configurations, namely a coplanar configuration where n particles of mass m 1 lie at the vertices of a regular n-gon, n particles of mass m 2 lie at the vertices of another n-gon conce...

In this paper we show that in the $n$-body problem with harmonic potential one can find a continuum of central configurations for $n=3$. Moreover we show a counterexample to an interpretation of Jerry Marsden Generalized Saari's conjecture. This will help to refine our understanding and formulation of the Generalized Saari's conjecture, and in turn...

We study a 2-body problem given by the sum of the Newtonian potential and an anisotropic perturbation that is a homogeneous function of degree $-\beta$, $\beta\ge 2$. For $\beta>2$, the sets of initial conditions leading to collisions/ejections and the one leading to escapes/captures have positive measure. For $\beta>2$ and $\beta\ne 3$, the flow o...

In this paper we study the linear stability of the relative equilibria for homogeneous and quasihomogeneous potentials. Firstly, in the case the potential is a homogeneous function of degree $-a$, we find that any relative equilibrium of the $n$-body problem with $a>2$ is spectrally unstable. We also find a similar condition in the quasihomogeneous...

In this paper we present a complete classification of the isolated central configurations of the five-body problem with equal masses. This is accomplished by using the polyhedral homotopy method to approximate all the isolated solutions of the Albouy-Chenciner equations. The existence of exact solutions, in a neighborhood of the approximated ones,...

We consider the Kepler problem on surfaces of revolution that are homeomorphic to $S^2$ and have constant Gaussian curvature. We show that the system is maximally superintegrable, finding constants of motion that generalize the Runge-Lentz vector. Then, using such first integrals, we determine the class of surfaces that lead to block-regularizable...

In 1969, D. Saari conjectured that the only solutions of the Newtonian n—body problem that have constant moment of inertia are relative equilibria. For n = 3, there is a computer assisted proof of this conjecture given by R. Moeckel in 2005, [10]. The collinear case was solved the same year by F. Diacu, E. Pérez‐Chavela, and M. Santoprete, [4],...

Saari's homographic conjecture, which extends a classical statement proposed by Donald Saari in 1970, claims that solutions of the Newtonian $n$-body problem with constant configurational measure are homographic. In other words, if the mutual distances satisfy a certain relationship, the configuration of the particle system may change size and posi...

In this paper, we consider the motion of a particle on a surface of revolution under the influence of a central force field. We prove that there are at most two analytic central potentials for which all the bounded, nonsingular orbits are closed and that there are exactly two on some surfaces with constant Gaussian curvature. The two potentials lea...

In 1969, D. Saari conjectured that the only solutions of the Newtonian n—body problem that have constant moment of inertia are relative equilibria. For n = 3, there is a computer assisted proof of this conjecture given by R. Moeckel in 2005, [10]. The collinear case was solved the same year by F. Diacu, E. Pérez‐Chavela, and M. Santoprete, [4], All...

We prove that there is an unique convex noncollinear central configuration of the planar Newtonian four-body problem when two equal masses are located at opposite vertices of a quadrilateral and, at most, only one of the remaining masses is larger than the equal masses. Such a central configuration possesses a symmetry line and it is a kite-shaped...

In 1970 Don Saari conjectured that the only solutions of the Newtonian n-body problem that have constant moment of inertia are the relative equilibria. We prove this conjecture in the collinear case for any potential that involves only the mutual distances. Furthermore, in the case of homogeneous potentials, we show that the only collinear and non-...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Victoria, 2003. Includes bibliographical references.

We study the global flow of the anisotropic Manev problem, which describes the planar motion of two bodies under the influence of an anisotropic Newtonian potential with a relativistic correction term. We first find all the heteroclinic orbits between equilibrium solutions. Then we generalize the Poincaré–Melnikov method and use it to prove the exi...

We illustrate a completely analytic approach to Mel'nikov theory, which is based on a suitable extension of a classical method, and which is parallel and -at least in part -complementary to the standard procedure. This approach can be also applied to some "degenerate" situations, as to the case of nonhyperbolic unstable points, or of critical point...

Resorting to classical techniques of Riemannian geometry we develop a geometrical method suitable to investigate the nonintegrability of geodesic flows and of natural Hamiltonian systems. Then we apply such method to the Anisotropic Kepler Problem (AKP) and we prove that it is not analytically integrable.

We consider the Manev Potential in an anisotropic space, i.e., such that the force acts differently in each direction. Using a generalization of the Poincare' continuation method we study the existence of periodic solutions for weak anisotropy. In particular we find that the symmetric periodic orbits of the Manev system are perturbed to periodic or...

In this paper we prove the occurence of chaos for charged particles moving around a Schwarzshild black hole, perturbed by uniform electric and magnetic fields. The appearance of chaos is studied resorting to the Poincare'-Melnikov method.

Il volume tratta delle conquiste tecniche, scientifiche e tecnologiche che hanno segnato i percorsi della civiltà, talune volte accompagnate da annotazioni di carattere economico, sociale, ambientale ecc. connesse con gli avvenimenti stessi. Dette realizzazioni attengono diversi comparti che vanno dall’agricoltura alla conquista dello spazio, dall’...

The anisotropic Manev problem, which lies at the intersection of classical, quantum, and relativity physics, describes the motion of two point masses in an anisotropic space under the influence of a Newtonian force-law with a relativistic correction term. Using an extension of the Poincaré–Melnikov method, we first prove that for weak anisotropy, c...

Using a completely analytic procedure—based on a suitable extension of a classical method—we discuss an approach to the Poincaré–Mel’nikov theory, which can be conveniently applied also to the case of nonhyperbolic critical points, and even if the critical point is located at the infinity. In this paper, we concentrate our attention on the latter c...

Homoclinic chaos is usually examined with the hypothesis of hyperbolicity of the critical point. We consider here, following a (suitably adjusted) classical analytic method, the case of non-hyperbolic points and show that, under a Melnikov-type condition plus an additional assumption, the negatively and positively asymptotic sets persist under peri...