Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / ia / Paper 4 / 9B / a

The central force has no transverse component. Its angular equation is thereforeThus the specific angular momentum is the constantThe radial equation isSubstitute $\dot{\theta }=l/r^2$:Consequently the radial motion for $r>0$ is exactly a unit-mass one-dimensional motion in the effective potentialIts conserved energy is $\frac{1}{2}{\dot{r}}^2+V_{\mathrm{eff}}(r)$; the second term in the effective potential accounts for the angular kinetic energy.

For circular orbits in an exponential central potential, a constant positive radius requires $V_{\mathrm{eff}}^{\prime }(r)=0$, orLet $h(r)=r^3{e}^{-r}$. Its derivative is $h^{\prime }(r)=r^2{e}^{-r}(3-r)$: it rises from zero to $h(3)=27/e^3$, then falls back to zero. HenceThe strict lower bound matters: the printed upper bound also allows $l=0$, but then there is no finite-radius circular orbit. Nonzero angular momentum is an implicit hypothesis of the two-orbit claim.

At a circular orbit, use $l^2=r^3{e}^{-r}$ to obtainA small radial displacement $\eta$ satisfies $\ddot{\eta }=-V_{\mathrm{eff}}^{\prime \prime }(r)\eta$. Therefore the inner circular orbit is radially stable at fixed angular momentum, while the outer orbit is unstable. The inner perturbation oscillates with squared frequency $e^{-r_1}(3/r_1-1)$; the outer perturbation has an exponentially growing solution. At the limiting value $l^2=27/e^3$, the radii coalesce at $r=3$ and the linear restoring coefficient vanishes.