Stäckel potential ($\psi =\frac{G(\lambda )-G(\mu )}{\lambda -\mu }$)

A Stäckel potential allows additive separation of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation in an orthogonal coordinate system. In axisymmetric prolate spheroidal coordinates, the relative-potential form is $\psi =[G(\lambda )-G(\mu )]/(\lambda -\mu )$. It gives energy, axial angular momentum and an independent third separation integral. Here $G$ is a one-variable generating function, not the gravitational constant. Generic bounded orbits are regular invariant-torus motions; resonance and coordinate degeneracy require separate treatment.

For fixed $E,l,I$, separated motion obeys $p_{\tau }^2=[E\tau +G(\tau )-I+(\alpha -\beta )l^2/(2(\tau +\alpha ))]/[2(\tau +\alpha )(\tau +\beta )]$. Allowed intervals are where this is nonnegative, with turning points and coordinate-fold endpoints treated separately. A generic nonresonant bound orbit with $l\ne 0$ circulates azimuthally and densely samples a projected volume bounded by confocal spheroids and hyperboloids. It is not uniformly distributed in volume. Resonant or zero-angular-momentum orbits can project to lower-dimensional regions; integrability alone does not imply that every orbit fills a three-dimensional shell.

For $H=\frac{1}{2}\sum p_j^2/h_j^2-\psi$, $l=p_{\varphi }$ and a Stäckel potential, multiplying the separated Hamilton-Jacobi equation by $\lambda -\mu$ gives $2(\tau +\alpha )(\tau +\beta )p_{\tau }^2-(\alpha -\beta )l^2/[2(\tau +\alpha )]-G(\tau )-E\tau =-I$ for both $\tau =\lambda ,\mu$. Eliminating $E$ gives $I=\frac{1}{2}[\mu v_{\lambda }^2+\lambda v_{\mu }^2+(\lambda +\mu +\alpha )v_{\varphi }^2]-[\mu G(\lambda )-\lambda G(\mu )]/(\lambda -\mu )$. Physical components are $v_j=h_j{\dot{q}}_j$ and $p_j=h_j{v}_j$. Separation proves conservation locally; direct Poisson brackets extend it across regular coordinate patches.