References & Sources  -  September 5, 1998

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Following gravity's loops and knots

A new set of approximate solutions of Newton's equations for gravitational attraction corresponds to strings of equally spaced masses chasing each other around closed loops.

 

References:

Buck, G. 1998. Most smooth closed space curves contain approximate solutions of the n-body problem. Nature 395(Sept. 3):51.

 

Further Readings:

Diacu, F., and P. Holmes. 1996. Celestial Encounters: The Origins of Chaos and Stability. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Peterson, I. 1993. Newton's Clock: Chaos in the Solar System. New York: W.H. Freeman.

______. 1992. Chaos in the clockwork. Science News 141(Feb. 22):120.

Saari, D.G. 1998. Orbits of all sorts. Nature 395(Sept. 3):18.

Sources:

Gregory R. Buck
Department of Mathematics
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Web site: http://gbuck.ne.mediaone.net/front/BuckHome.html

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