Exploring Kepler Problem Using Maple
摘要
The Kepler problem is named after Johannes Kepler, who proposed Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. Kepler problem is a special case of the two-body problem in classical mechanics. The two bodies interact by a central force F that varies in strength as the inverse square of the distance r between them. Here, we are looking for the equation of motion using the Lagrangian formulation and its solution using a numerical approach. Though the general theory of relativity provides more accurate solutions to the two-body problem, especially in strong gravitational fields, here we are exploring numerical methods followed by correction term in potential energy, inversely proportional to the cube of the radius for perihelion motion.