A time-reversible, regularized, switching integrator for the N-body problem

A. Kværnø*, B. Leimkuhler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

This article describes a gravitational N-body integration algorithm conserving linear and angular momentum and time-reversal symmetry. Forces are dynamically partitioned based on interbody separation, so that the long-range forces are evaluated relatively rarely, and close approaches are treated by an efficient regularization technique. The method incorporates an automatic stepsize adjustment based on a Sundman time-transformation. Although the scheme is formally second order, the most intensive computations (the close-approach dynamics) are executed at higher order, thus improving the overall accuracy. Numerical experiments indicate that the method can effectively treat few-body gravitational problems with two-body close approaches, and it compares favorably with other schemes presented in the literature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1016-1035
Number of pages20
JournalSIAM Journal on Scientific Computing
Volume22
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2001

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Hamiltonian systems
  • N-body problems
  • Smooth switching functions
  • Time-reversible discretization

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