A statistical solution to the chaotic, non-hierarchical three- | Physics Directory
A statistical solution to the chaotic, non-hierarchical three-body problem - Nicholas C. Stone and Nathan W. C. Leigh - Abstract : The three-body problem is arguably the oldest open question in astrophysics and has resisted a general analytic solution for centuries. Various implementations of perturbation theory provide solutions in portions of parameter space, but only where hierarchies of masses or separations exist. Numerical integrations show that bound, non-hierarchical triple systems of Newtonian point particles will almost always disintegrate into a single escaping star and a stable bound binary, but the chaotic nature of the three-body problem prevents the derivation of tractable6 analytic formulae that deterministically map initial conditions to final outcomes. Chaos, however, also motivates the assumption of ergodicity, implying that the distribution of outcomes is uniform across the accessible phase volume... Article #Article (2019) Join @PhysicsDirectory - Menu
