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The Orbits Window
Figure 2.20:
The Orbits window.
 |
- Window title:
- DsTool: Orbits
- Function:
- The Orbits window allows the user to set conditions for orbit propagation.
- Description:
- The Orbits window is opened by selecting the Orbits
option from the Panels menu button located in the Command window.
The options on this window are used to control the numerical algorithms used to compute
trajectories.
- Panel items:
-
- Start numeric field:
Displays the number of points to compute before beginning to plot and store data.
Setting this text field to a positive
integer means that initial transient behavior will not be displayed.
The default value is 0.
- Stop numeric field:
Displays the maximum number of steps that will be taken in computing a trajectory.
Depending upon the value of Stopping condition, this field can have different meanings.
If Stopping condition is set to Fixed steps, then Stop
is used to compute the total number of time steps taken by the propagation
routine (see Plot factor field). If Stopping condition is set to Event stopping or Fixed time,
then Stop is used to compute the maximum number of time steps which the propagation
routine may take. If Stopping condition is set to Poincaré section, then Stop is used to
compute the maximum number of iterates of the Poincaré map. We assume that
the trajectory being computed does not propagate to infinity, and also that the propagator
does not fail in any way. A failure may occur, for example, when trying to implicitly iterate a
map backwards.
The default value is 5000.
- Plot factor numeric field:
Displays the number of points to skip between points stored and plotted. That is,
the ith point calculated will be stored to memory and plotted only if
i is greater than start and i - start is evenly divisible by plot. The exception
to this rule is that the initial and final conditions are always stored and plotted.
This field is replaced by the Max steps between sections field when Stopping condition is
set to Poincaré section. The default value is 1.
Example: If the previous three text fields read Start=500, Stop=1000, and Plot=3,
then DsTool will calculate 1000 points along a trajectory but will
only store the points indexed by 500, 503, 506,..., 998, and 1000 (the final condition is always
kept). Setting Plot = k > 1 for mappings may be thought of as studying the kth iterate of the map.
For vector fields, setting Plot > 1 is useful when it is necessary to choose a small
integration step, but we do not want to see every plotted point.
- Max steps between sections numeric field:
Displays the maximum number of integration steps which the propagation routine may take between
hitting Poincaré sections.
This field takes the place of the Plot factor field when Stopping condition is set to Poincaré
section. If a section is not crossed before taking this many
steps, then the propagation routine stops and returns the last plotted point.
The default value is 1.
- Step size read-write text field:
Displays the initial step size with which to begin vector field integration.
This field is only visible if the dynamical system is a vector field. The default value is 0.01.
Like the Stop field, the interpretation of the value in the Step size field depends upon the value of
the stack setting entitled Stopping condition and upon the current choice of the integrator.
If the current integrator is a fixed step algorithm
(e.g., the Euler method or a standard fourth order Runge-Kutta method):
- If the Stopping condition is Fixed steps, the size of each integration step is constant
and has the value shown in the Step size field.
- If the Stopping condition is Event stopping, the integration step is initially set to the
the value shown in the Step size field, and no step size will ever be larger that this
value. The given step size is used by the integration algorithm until an event is
detected. The final step (which may be smaller than the value of Step size)
used by the integrator is chosen so that the last point
of the trajectory satisfies the given condition even up to some tolerance.
- If the Stopping condition is Fixed time, a new time step is computed for use by the
integration routine. The new step is less than or equal to the value shown in the Step
Size field, but is the largest step which divides that flight time by an integral value.
If the current integrator is a variable step algorithm
(e.g., quality-control algorithms and the Bulirsch-Stoer method), then
the value shown in the Step size field is used as an initial step size.
- Stopping condition stack setting:
Allows the user to choose the type of event which will terminate
a trajectory calculation. There are several options. The exact number depends on whether the
current dynamical system is a mapping or a vector field and, if it is a vector field, on the
currently installed integrator.
- Fixed steps:
- The propagation algorithm will attempt to propagate the trajectory for the number
of time steps specified by the Stop read-write field. This is the default setting.
- Event stopping:
- The propagation algorithm will halt propagation as soon as any of the
specified events are satisfied. An event is specified by typing in a value for an event
field, and checking the non-exclusive field to the right of that field.
Any variable or auxiliary function may be used to determine an event.
For example, if we wish to propagate a trajectory until the scalar
auxiliary function g is zero,
then we would type 0.0 into the event field next to the label for g and check the
non-exclusive field to the right of g. If we want to
propagate until the variable x reaches the value 0.5 or until the
auxiliary function g is 1.0, then we would type both of these values into the
event fields labeled by x and g and check both corresponding non-exclusive fields.
The propagator will stop the first time that any of the specified events are true.
The parameters controlling the Newton iterations and tolerance for the event are set in
the Propagation window.
- Fixed time:
- The propagation algorithm will attempt to propagate a trajectory until a
final value of the independent variable is satisfied.
This field only exists when the current dynamical system is a vector field.
The label for this condition is always
Fixed indep_varb where indep_varb is the name of the independent variable
for the current vector field (often ``time'' is used). This is currently implemented by
using Newton's method to solve for a final time step
so that the last point satisfies the condition to within some error tolerance. The
parameters for controlling Newton's method are set in the Propagation window.
- Poincaré section:
- The propagation algorithm will
set up a section or union of sections as stopping events in the same
fashion as Event stopping.
This field exists only when the current dynamical system is a vector field.
The trajectory is flowed from
the initial condition until the number of
events specified by the Stop field have occurred. Each event starting with the one
indicated by the Start field is plotted and saved. Intermediate points are neither
plotted nor saved. The Max steps between sections field specifies the
maximum number of propagation steps which the propagation routine is allowed to take
between events before stopping.
- Name Event read-write text fields:
Displays the values used to define events for stopping conditions.
If the Stopping condition choice is Fixed steps, then none of these
fields are relevant and trajectories will propagate as described above under the
description of Start, Stop, and Plot factor. If the choice is Event stopping or Poincaré section
then all dependent variables and auxiliary functions whose Event enable setting is on will be
relevant in determining the stopping condition, as described above.
If the choice is Fixed time then only the independent variable is relevant, and only then if
its Event enable setting in on.
- Name Event enable non-exclusive settings:
Allows the user to choose which events will be relevant to determining stopping conditions.
Checking any of these settings causes the corresponding variable or auxiliary function to
possibly become relevant in determining the stopping condition for the trajectory calculation.
The relevance of the variable or auxiliary function is determined by the stopping condition
field, as described above.
- Clear last command button:
Deletes the last computed trajectory segment
from memory and updates the number of trajectory data points.
- Clear all command button:
Deletes all stored trajectory data points, including those generated by the Multiple Orbits
window.
- Propagation window button:
Opens and brings to the foreground the Propagation window.
- Forwards command button:
Begins propagation (i.e., integrating a vector field or iterating a map) forward
in time using the initial condition given in the Initial column of the Selected Point window
and the settings specified by the above fields.
- Continue command button:
Begins propagation in the current direction, using the
final point of the last computed trajectory as the initial condition and the settings
specified by the above fields. If there is no last trajectory, selecting Continue is equivalent to
selecting Forwards. The current direction is ``forward'' if the user selected the
Forwards button or the SELECT mouse button more recently than the user selected the
Backwards button or the MENU mouse button. (See Section 2.9 or 2.10 for more
information on the effects of mouse buttons.)
- Backwards command button:
Begins propagation backwards
in time using the initial condition given in the Initial column of the Selected Point window
and the settings specified by the above fields.
If the installed dynamical system is a map, finding inverse images takes on two meanings.
If the map has an explicit inverse, the inverse image is computed explicitly. If a map does
not have an explicit inverse,
Newton's method is used to determine approximate inverse
images. The Jacobian of the map, the convergence criteria for Newton's method, and other relevant
parameters for this numerical procedure may be set by using the Propagation window.
- Dismiss command button:
Closes the Orbits window.
Next: The Propagation Window
Up: Attributes of Interface Windows
Previous: The Browser Window
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1998-11-02