Heteroclinic Connections and Resonance Transitions in Celestial Mechanics

Dr. Wang Sang Koon, Caltech, CDS

We apply dynamical systems techniques to the problem of heteroclinic connections and resonant transitions in the restricted three-body problem. These phenomena have been of concern to areas such as resonant capture of comets and trajectory design for newer NASA missions, like Genesis. We show that the invariant manifold structures associated to libration points L1, L2 and the heteroclinic connections between their Liapunov orbits are fundamental tools that aid in understanding dynamical channels throughout the solar system.