On co-orbital quasi-periodic motion in the three-body problem

Abstract

Within the framework of the planar three-body problem we establish the existence of quasi-periodic motions and KAM 4-tori related to the co-orbital motion of two small moons about a large planet where the moons move in nearly circular orbits with almost equal radii. The approach is based on a combination of normal form and symplectic reduction theories and the application of a KAM theorem for high-order degenerate systems. To accomplish our results we need to expand the Hamiltonian of the three-body problem as a perturbation of two uncoupled Kepler problems. This approximation is valid in the region of phase space where co-orbital solutions occur.