A simulation study of tidal effects on the orbits of n-body systems

The goal of this research is to investigate how tidal forces and rotational velocities shape astronomical systems. We prepare a numerical simulation that models the long term effects tidal forces have on an N-body system, and present multiple trials indicating numerical accuracy of our simulation by testing conservation of energy and total angular momentum. In our model we assume each body is a system of pseudoparticles bound together by a spring, which fluctuates in length in correspondence with external forces. We use an approximate model of tidal interaction that includes differential gravitational forces, internal forces, and damping, but is unable to capture other effects. We cannot account for rotational flattening, differential rotation, or certain configurations. The numerical trials include a comparison to a simple harmonic oscillator, a circular orbit of the pseudoparticles about the body’s center of mass, a circular orbit between two bodies in a binary, and lastly a synchronous orbit.