Explicit separatrices of the marginally bound Schwarzschild orbit

ID: explicit-separatrices-of-the-marginally-bound-schwarzschild-orbit

A timelike equatorial Schwarzschild geodesic with specific energy and angular momentum obeys for . Substituting reduces it to , integrating to the two displayed branches. One lies outside and the other inside; each approaches the same unstable circular orbit exponentially in angle and only after infinite proper time. Linearization of about gives , confirming instability. These are separatrix approaches or departures, not stable oscillations around the circular orbit.

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