All Questions

Consider the usual three-body problem with Newtonian $1/r^2$ force between masses. Let the three masses start off at rest, and not collinear. Then they will become collinear a finite time ...

Disclaimer: I have asked this question on Physics SE a week ago, but got no answers. I know that some MO users are interested in the $n$-body problem, so I decided to cross post here as well. ...

I know that for a 2nd order linear differential equation system, there are 3 possible scenarios: over-damped, critically damped and underdamped. For the underdamped case the solutions are of the form: ...

I have been reading the book Critical Point Theory and Hamiltonian System by Mawhin and Willem, as well as several other papers on the existence of periodic solutions for equations of the form $$\ddot{...

Suppose that gravity did not follow an inverse-square law, but was instead a central force diminishing as $1/d^p$ for distance separation $d$ and some power $p$. Two questions: Presumably the 2-body ...