I was in physics and had a brief conversation on chaos theory and we started talking about space and he briefly mentioned about the 3 body problem.
Thing is, everything interacts with other things for a reason right? I understand it’s complicated, but if you know all the necessary data, why can’t we do it?
In: Planetary Science
The three body problem is not unsolved. We know for a fact that there is no solution. But it got its name before we knew that, and now it is used as an example that even simple systems devolve into chaos.
With three planetary bodies of similar size/density, the system *will* decay into chaos.
I’m sure there is some unfounded solution to “How big does A have to be relative to B and C to ignore them?” This would be a one star solar system. Also, “How big do bodies A and B have to be relative to C to ignore C?” This would be a binary star solar system. But at the very least, with three identical bodies, the system will always devolve into chaos.
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