Nonlinear satellite wakes in planetary rings. I - Phase-space kinematics

The explicit expression presently derived for the phase-space density of a planetary ring subjected to perturbations by a proximate satellite recovers the usual perturbed-streamline equations by drawing first-order moments of the phase-space density. The surface density obtained is positive-definite in virtue of taking the ring particles' finite-velocity dispersion into account. The satellite-wake local mean velocity components deviate from the streamline equations' sinusoidal form; this deviation grows as the wake moves downstream from the shepherding satellite.