Chirikov diffusion in the asteroidal three-body resonance (5, −2, −2)

Abstract

The theory of diffusion in many-dimensional Hamiltonian system is applied to asteroidal dynamics. The general formulation developed by Chirikov is applied to the Nesvorný-Morbidelli analytic model of three-body (three-orbit) mean-motion resonances (Jupiter-Saturn-asteroid). In particular, we investigate the diffusion along and across the separatrices of the (5, −2, −2) resonance of the (490) Veritas asteroidal family and their relationship to diffusion in semi-major axis and eccentricity. The estimations of diffusion were obtained using the Melnikov integral, a Hadjidemetriou-type sympletic map and numerical integrations for times up to 108 years.