24,181 research outputs found
On the convex central configurations of the symmetric (ℓ + 2)-body problem
For the 4-body problem there is the following conjecture: Given arbitrary positive masses, the planar 4-body problem has a unique convex central configuration for each ordering of the masses on its convex hull. Until now this conjecture has remained open. Our aim is to prove that this conjecture cannot be extended to the (ℓ + 2)-body problem with ℓ ⩾ 3. In particular, we prove that the symmetric (2n + 1)-body problem with masses m1 = … = m2n−1 = 1 and m2n = m2n+1 = m sufficiently small has at least two classes of convex central configuration when n = 2, five when n = 3, and four when n = 4. We conjecture that the (2n + 1)-body problem has at least n classes of convex central configurations for n > 4 and we give some numerical evidence that the conjecture can be true. We also prove that the symmetric (2n + 2)-body problem with masses m1 = … = m2n = 1 and m2n+1 = m2n+2 = m sufficiently small has at least three classes of convex central configuration when n = 3, two when n = 4, and three when n = 5. We also conjecture that the (2n + 2)-body problem has at least [(n +1)/2] classes of convex central configurations for n > 5 and we give some numerical evidences that the conjecture can be true
Symmetry, bifurcation and stacking of the central configurations of the planar 1+4 body problem
In this work we are interested in the central configurations of the planar
1+4 body problem where the satellites have different infinitesimal masses and
two of them are diametrically opposite in a circle. We can think this problem
as a stacked central configuration too. We show that the configuration are
necessarily symmetric and the other sattelites has the same mass. Moreover we
proved that the number of central configuration in this case is in general one,
two or three and in the special case where the satellites diametrically
opposite have the same mass we proved that the number of central configuration
is one or two saying the exact value of the ratio of the masses that provides
this bifurcation.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1103.627
The symmetric central configurations of the 4-body problem with masses m_1=m_2 m_3=m_4
We characterize the planar central configurations of the 4-body problem with masses m1 = m2 ̸= m3 = m4 which have an axis of symmetry. It is known that this problem has exactly two classes of convex central configurations, one with the shape of a rhombus and the other with the shape of an isosceles trapezoid. We show that this 4-body problem also has exactly two classes of concave central configurations with the shape of a kite, this proof is assisted by computer
Existence of symmetric central configurations
Central configurations have been of great interest over many years, with the
earliest examples due to Euler and Lagrange. There are numerous results in the
literature demonstrating the existence of central configurations with specific
symmetry properties, using slightly different techniques in each. The aim here
is to describe a uniform approach by adapting to the symmetric case the
well-known variational argument showing the existence of central
configurations. The principal conclusion is that there is a central
configuration for every possible symmetry type, and for any symmetric choice of
masses. Finally the same argument is applied to the class of balanced
configurations introduced by Albouy and Chenciner.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in Cel Mech and Dyn Ast
Non-avoided crossings for n-body balanced configurations in R^3 near a central configuration
The balanced configurations are those n-body configurations which admit a
relative equilibrium motion in a Euclidean space E of high enough dimension 2p.
They are characterized by the commutation of two symmetric endomorphisms of the
(n-1)-dimensional Euclidean space of codispositions, the intrinsic inertia
endomorphism B which encodes the shape and the Wintner-Conley endomorphism A
which encodes the forces. In general, p is the dimension d of the
configuration, which is also the rank of B. Lowering to 2(d-1) the dimension of
E occurs when the restriction of A to the (invariant) image of B possesses a
double eigenvalue. It is shown that, while in the space of all dxd-symmetric
endomorphisms, having a double eigenvalue is a condition of codimension 2 (the
avoided crossings of physicists), here it becomes of codimension 1 provided
some condition (H) is satisfied. As the condition is always satisfied for
configurations of the maximal dimension (i.e. if d=n-1), this implies in
particular the existence, in the neighborhood of the regular tetrahedron
configuration of 4 bodies with no three of the masses equal, of exactly 3
families of balanced configurations which admit relative equilibrium motion in
a four dimensional space.Comment: 35 pages, 1 diagram, 6 figures Section 1.5.2 is new: it introduces
the condition (H) which had been overlooked in the first versio
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