Morse index properties of colliding solutions to the $N$-body problem

Abstract

We study a singular Hamiltonian system with an $\al$-homogeneous potential that contains, as a particular case, the classical $N$--body problem. We introduce a variational Morse--like index for a class of collision solutions and, using the asymptotic estimates near collisions, we prove the non-minimality of some special classes of colliding trajectories under suitable spectral conditions provided $\al$ is sufficiently away from zero. We then prove some minimality results for small values of the parameter $\al$.