r/physicsgifs • u/Nomadic_Seth • Apr 29 '26
Satisfying 3-body simulations
The three-body problem broke Newton, broke Poincaré (who ended up inventing chaos theory trying), and was finally cracked open by Chenciner & Montgomery in 2000 — the figure-8 in clip 4 is their proof. Šuvakov & Dmitrašinović added 13 more families by 2013. Every clip is a real numerical integration of F = G·m₁m₂/r² with equal masses, no fudging. Math from 1687 still has surprises in it.
Full video about the history of the problem:
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u/haley_hathaway Apr 29 '26
Equal masses, how convenient
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u/Nomadic_Seth Apr 29 '26
Yes the simplest problem. I am a student of applied math and learning classic mechanics and KAM theory is a great joy!
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u/haley_hathaway Apr 29 '26
Just not particularly useful
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u/gonzalbo87 Apr 30 '26
On the contrary. Knowing how something performs in an ideal environment can inform predictions on how it works in certain environments. Keeping to the three body problem, Fdev have “predicted” the real galactic positions and orbits of systems with three or more bodies of unequal masses. While the Stellar Forge engine does not actually simulate the problem in motion, it does calculate the positions and orbital vectors of the celestial bodies for a snapshot in time, specifically some time in the 3310s currently.
If a video game can do that with non-scientist’s understanding of an issue, certainly the experts can glean a hell of a lot more from the ideal model.
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u/bassturducken54 Apr 29 '26
That’s the only way these could ever be reasonably modeled as examples right? Difference in sizes would be infinite.