Symbolic Dynamics of the Collinear Three-Body Problem

Abstract

Solutions to the collinear three-body problem which do not end in triple collision pass through an infinite number of binary collisions. Given three masses, we show that four geometric quantities generate a finite description of itineraries of binary collisions. In the best circumstances, this description is semi-conjugate to a Poincare map of the flow. For other cases these quantities give upper and lower bounds on the itineraries which can occur. In addition to describing the dynamics of the collinear three-body problem, the results of this paper rederives the existence of oscillatory motion in the general N-body problem for N > 2.