Talk:Kozai mechanism

Latest comment: 5 years ago by Rentier in topic Equations of Motion and recent developments

Inclination edit

In the Consequences section, it says

if the orbit of a planet's moon is highly inclined to the planet's orbit the eccentricity of the moon's orbit will increase ..."

Shouldn't it be "...is highly inclined to the planet's equator ..."? The present wording looks fishy to me, but i'm no expert. Deuar 18:18, 12 September 2006 (UTC)Reply

Hey, I’m not an expert either :-). The planet equator is actually irrelevant because in 3-body in question the masses are not spinning. (nothing but the gravitational potential from two bodies is considered). If you take Uranus for example, the irregulars have no clue about its curious spin (axis).
Kozai resonance is referred to so many times in papers, and explained so badly, that I plan to put core stuff here. Actually, in low order the stuff is simple and entirely related to the unique integral (Jacobi integral). The results are derived (half qualitatively-half quantitatively) from Lagrange equations for de/dt and di/dt. I don’t like magic deus ex machina values like the one in this article for the critical angle, so I plan to explain it. Eurocommuter 18:41, 12 September 2006 (UTC)Reply
Ah! Got your point. The statement directly relates to the regular moon and the respectable regular moons have been created near the equator of the planet (or brought there by tides, if the planet axis is now inclined…). Hmmm, this requires a small rewriting (however, putting equator would also be misleading, see above). Anyway there’s more to it, and the section is no more than a draft for now. Eurocommuter 19:03, 12 September 2006 (UTC)Reply
Ah, the plot thickens... Deuar 21:14, 12 September 2006 (UTC)Reply

Why? edit

Anyone have an explanation for why these effects occur? Is there something that a (reasonably smart) lay person could visualize? --Doradus 17:11, 28 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

What is ω? edit

In the Timescale section, it says "The period of oscillation of all three variables (e, i, ω) is the same", but that is the only mention of ω in the article. Tbayboy (talk) 18:40, 11 February 2014 (UTC)Reply

It is the argument of periapsis. Double sharp (talk) 03:18, 20 July 2017 (UTC)Reply
I have added a note explaining this, albeit three and a half years late. Double sharp (talk) 03:43, 20 July 2017 (UTC)Reply

Equations of Motion and recent developments edit

Hello,

I'm a Ph.D. student working on applications of the Lidov-Kozai mechanism.

I'd be happy to write a more technical section of the equations of motion, their heuristic evolution, how to get the critical inclination and recent developments. I'm new to wikipedia and was wondering if I require some kind of premission or endorsement from more experienced editors. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eugeneg88 (talkcontribs) 15:22, 29 May 2018 (UTC)Reply

Hi Eugeneg88, no need to ask for permission, just make your changes! I am glad you are interested in expanding this article - I have been planning to do so, but couldn't find the time. If you have any questions about editing in general, feel free to write on my talk page. Best wishes, Rentier (talk) 17:09, 29 May 2018 (UTC)Reply