I recently finished watching the 3 Body Problem on Netflix so this question came to mind. Can anyone explain (in simple terms) why the 3 body problem was deemed unsolvable even by the advanced alien race in the series? Even better, can anyone here simplify what the 3 Body Problem actually is in Physics? It really got my curiosity. Thanks! 🙂
In: Physics
All the other answers eplain really well why there is no (analytical) solution to the problem. What I’d like to add, and it is a minor spoiler in the series, is that >!the aliens decide to leave their planet not because they can’t predict with a decent margin of error the position of the suns but because their three body system isn’t in a stable configuration which means that eventually two stars may collide or one may leave the gravitational pull of the others meaning they could either freeze to death or fall into a star or any other crazy less than ideal situation!<
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