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.
This is one of those headlines that’s more obscuring than enlightening. We knew a bunch of ways that you could arrange three gravitational bodies and have them be in a stable orbit around each other. This adds 12,000 more. However, a general solution is still incredibly complicated, and the Trisolarans would still like to have a little chat with us in Australia some time.
Wsn’t it solved long ago? There’s even an old KSP mod ‘Pricipia’ for it.
You can simulate a specific arrangement of n-bodies, where n > 2. Depending on how accurate you want it to be, you may need a supercomputer.
If n = 2, then you can work it out on a napkin. If n = 1, you can draw a circle, point at it, and say “I figured it out!”
Damn it, I just started Cixin’s book and now these jerks are going to spoil it;)
You clicked the thread!
And me too, I’m just at the beginning of the second book lol
