Past exam of the short options paper shared by Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford / 2019 / S7 / 3 / d / Solution

For $|x|\ll s_0$ the quadratic Hamiltonian describes a simple harmonic oscillator withAn exactly circular orbit closes for every nonzero $l$. A nonzero infinitesimal radial oscillation closes at leading order precisely when $\sqrt{3}\sin \theta$ is rational. This condition concerns the cone angle: changing $s_0$ or $l$ cannot change the leading-order ratio. Thus there are no special nonzero $l$ values selecting closure for a fixed cone at this order.

At finite radial amplitude the system is equivalent, after unrolling the cone with planar angle $\chi =\varphi \sin \theta$, to a planar central force with potential proportional to $s$. Its angle advance per radial period changes continuously from $2\pi /\sqrt{3}$ near a circle towards $\pi$ at very large radial energy. Hence the physical advance changes from $2\pi /(\sqrt{3}\sin \theta )$ towards $\pi /\sin \theta$. This nonzero interval contains rational multiples of $2\pi$, so tuning a larger initial $|p_s|$ can produce closed orbits even when the small-amplitude ratio is irrational. Generic amplitudes still produce a precessing orbit; neither energy conservation nor increasing $|p_s|$ guarantees closure.