Matched Asymptotic Expansions in the Two-body Problem with Quick Loss of Mass

In studying models for the two-body problem with quick lossof mass a boundary layer problem arises for a third-order systemof non-linear ordinary differential equations. The models areidentified by a real parameter n with n ? 1. It turns out thatfor n = 1 asymptotic approximations of the solutions can beobtained by applying the method of matched asymptotic expansionsaccouonding to Vasil'eva or a multiple time scales method developedby O'Malley. For n> 1 these methods break down and it isshown that this is due to the occurrence of "unexpected" orderfunctions in the asymptotic expansions. The expansions for n> 1 are obtained by constructing an inner and outer expansionof the solution and matching these by the process of takingintermediate limits. The asymptotic validity of the matched expansions is provedby using an iteration technique; the proof is constructive sothat it provides us at the same time with an alternative wayof constructing approximations without using a matching technique.