The Optimal Reduction of a 2-Body Problem in R^3

Abstract

In this paper we describe optimal reduction for the system of two bodies in $\mathbb{R}^3$ whose Hamiltonian is invariant under rotations and translations. In doing this, we introduce parametrizations and charts which help giving explicit expressions in order to deal with geometric and dynamical aspects of the reduction process. For this system, the standard assumptions of the Marsden-Weinstein reduction process are only partially satisfied while optimal reduction can be readily applied, and we study a comparison between those two reduction processes. We describe potential applications to the study of Post-Newtonian Hamiltonian systems for binary systems in astronomy.