Write . For ,
The potential is strictly increasing from to and crosses the energy line at
The expanding universe reaches this turning point, reverses, and ends in a Big Crunch. Thus a negative cosmological constant forces recollapse in this spatially flat pressureless model.
Let a slowly varying wave have phase , wavevector , and angular frequency . The local dispersion relation is the Hamilton-Jacobi equation . Equality of mixed derivatives, followed along a curve with velocity , gives the Hamiltonian ray-tracing equations
Here is the total derivative evaluated along a ray, and is the group velocity.
For , , , and are conserved. If is the angle between the ray and the -axis, then and . Hence Snell's law is
For the ray launched with at , this constant is . Therefore
which proves
For , write . Since the ray and wavevector are parallel,
Near the upper turning point, put . Expansion gives
If at the turn, integration yields the local ray path
The ray is tangent to the line , turns smoothly, crosses , and repeats symmetrically between and . Increasing decreases , while sends the turning level outward.
The work done along the trajectory is
By Newton's second law, , so
This is the work-energy theorem: the work equals the change in kinetic energy.
A force is conservative when its work between two points is independent of the path, equivalently when it is the negative gradient of a potential energy. Here a potential with is
Conservation of energy for gives
Thus
If , the particle escapes with asymptotic speed ; the graph decreases from to this horizontal asymptote. At the escape velocity , it decreases as and approaches zero only at infinity. If , it reaches the turning point
where , then returns on the negative branch of the same curve and oscillates symmetrically about the origin.
For oscillation put . One quarter of the period is
where . Therefore
For , the stationary-point equation would require
so the two saddles leave the real axis. The contour can be deformed through the appropriate complex saddle or saddles, and their contributions become exponentially small or large according to the sign of the real part of . The real-axis oscillatory saddle contributions present for therefore disappear across the turning point . The admissible deformation and the pole's residue must still respect the prescribed branch cuts and the instruction that the contour pass above .
For a bound orbit let be the specific energy and the specific angular momentum. Introduce the dimensionless radius suggested in the question,
The radial energy equation becomes
where and are the two turning points. Comparing coefficients gives
The time from periapsis to apoapsis is
Thus the radial orbital period is
It depends on but not on , which is the defining isochrone property.