n-body problem
Learn about this topic in these articles:
major reference
- In celestial mechanics: The n-body problem
The general problem of n bodies, where n is greater than three, has been attacked vigorously with numerical techniques on powerful computers. Celestial mechanics in the solar system is ultimately an n-body problem, but the special configurations and relative smallness of the perturbations…
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centre of mass
- In mechanics: Centre of mass
Assume that there are N bodies altogether, each labeled with numbers ranging from 1 to N, and that the vector from an arbitrary origin to the ith body—where i is some number between 1 and N—is r i , as shown in Figure 12. Let the mass of the…
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connectivity
- In complexity: Connectivity
…celestial mechanics is the n-body problem, which comes in many forms. One version involves n point masses (a simplifying mathematical idealization that concentrates each body’s mass into a point) moving in accordance with Newton’s laws of gravitational attraction and asks if, from some set of initial positions and velocities of…
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decomposability
- In complexity: Decomposability
The n-body problem in physics is a quintessential example of this sort of indecomposability. Other examples include an electrical circuit, a Renoir painting, or the tripartite division of the U.S. government into its executive, judicial, and legislative subsystems.
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