Golubov O. Dynamic evolution of asteroids under non-gravitational forces

The work is devoted to the study of the dynamics of asteroids under the action of non-gravitational forces of light pressure, the study of the influence of the light pressure forces on the orbital motion of an asteroid (the Yarkovsky effect) and its rotation (the Yarkovsky–O'Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack effect) and to the analysis of their evolutionary consequences for individual asteroids and asteroid families. For the first time, the concept of the tangential YORP effect has been proposed, in which the force of light pressure has a component tangential to the global surface of the asteroid due to small-scale surface irregularities. A semi-analytical model of the Yarkovsky effect and the normal YORP effect has been created, in which the light pressure force and torque are expressed as an integral over the surface of a convex asteroid. The general evolution of the asteroid’s rotation state under the action of the normal and tangential YORP effects has been studied analytically and numerically. For the first time, three new stable equilibrium states for asteroids under the action of different components of the YORP effect have been described. The developed models of the YORP effect and the evolution of the asteroid’s rotation state have been successfully applied to explain the observed accelerations of individual asteroids and the evolution of asteroid families.