Dynamical symmetries of the Kepler problem

Abstract: This work originates from a first year undergraduate research project on hidden symmetries of the dynamics for classical Hamiltonian systems, under the program 'Jovens talentos para a Ciencia' of Brazilian funding agency Capes. For pedagogical reasons the main subject chosen was Kepler's problem of motion under a central potential, since it is a completely solved system. It is well known that for this problem the group of dynamical symmetries is strictly larger than the isometry group O(3), the extra symmetries corresponding to hidden symmetries of the dynamics. By taking the point of view of examining the group action of the dynamical symmetries on the allowed trajectories, it is possible to teach in the same project basic elements of as many important subjects in physics as: Hamiltonian formalism, hidden symmetries, integrable systems, group theory, and the use of manifolds.