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 ways to make it work.
"But they're only useful if they're stable" ai not all bad
Nice, problems that have 12,000 possible solutions are my favourite.
Whew, now the Trisolarans won't need to attack us.
I knew I wasn't the only one
These don't seem to be "solutions" in the sense of the conic section solutions to the 2 body interaction, but rather independent solutions found numerically. It's not even mentioned whether the "solutions" have a workable closed form equation, or if it's simply a series (Fourier-like) solution with a finite or non-finite number of terms with unique coefficients based on the initial conditions.
That's not to say it isn't interesting in its own right (periodic conditions within a 3 body system), but it's not really a solution in the classical sense.
