A functional interpolation approach to compute periodic orbits in the circular-restricted three-body problem

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a method to solve for periodic orbits, i.e., Lyapunov and Halo orbits, using a functional interpolation scheme called the Theory of Functional Connections (TFC). Using this technique, a periodic constraint is analytically embedded into the TFC constrained expression. By doing this, the system of differential equations governing the three-body problem is transformed into an unconstrained optimization problem where simple numerical schemes can be used to find a solution, e.g., nonlinear least-squares is used. This allows for a simpler numerical implementation with comparable accuracy and speed to the traditional differential corrector method.