A common first integral from three-body secular theory and Kepler billiards

Abstract

We observe that a particular first integral of the partially-averaged system in the secular theory of the three-body problem appears also as an important conserved quantity of integrable Kepler billiards. In this note we illustrate their common roots with the projective dynamics of the two-center problem. We then combine these two aspects to define a class of integrable billiard systems on surfaces of constant curvature.