Calculating the way three things orbit each other is notoriously tricky — but a new study may reveal 12,000 new ways to make it work.

Mathematicians find 12,000 new solutions to ‘unsolvable’ 3-body problem::Calculating the way three things orbit each other is notoriously tricky, but a new study may reveal 12,000 new solutions.

  • SibboEnglish
    53·
    9 months ago

    Title is wrong. Unsolvable means no general closed form solution. That doesn’t mean that single constellations cannot be proven stable.

    There is for example a trivial solution to the n-body problem. Arrange all bodies equidistant on a circle and have them move at the speed that keeps them on the circle.