Three-body problem

Alternative definitions (1), class: vernacular (0)
Term: Three-body problem
Definition:

The mathematical problem of studying the positions and velocities of three mutually attracting bodies (such as the Sun, Earth and Moon) and the stability of their motion. This problem is surprisingly difficult to solve, even in the simple case, called restricted three-body problem, where one of the masses is taken to be negligibly small so that the problem simplifies to finding the behavior of the mass-less body in the combined gravitational field of the other two.

Created 2023.04.16
Last Modified 2023.04.16
Contributed by Ryan McGranaghan
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