High-inclination orbits in the secular quadrupolar three-body problem

Abstract

The Lidov-Kozai mechanism allows a body to periodically exchange its eccentricity with inclination. It was first discussed in the framework of the quadrupolar secular restricted three-body problem, where the massless particle is the inner body, and later extended to the quadrupolar secular non-restricted three-body problem. In this paper, we propose a different point of view on the problem by looking first at the restricted problem where the massless particle is the outer body. In this situation, equilibria at high mutual inclination appear, which corresponds to the population of stable particles that Verrier & Evans find in stable, high-inclination circumbinary orbits around one of the components of the quadruple star HD 98800. We provide a simple analytical framework using a vectorial formalism for these situations. We also look at the evolution of these high-inclination equilibria in the non-restricted case. © 2009 RAS.