arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Pieter Tibboel.
We prove Saari's conjecture, which states that for any solution to the classical $n$-body problem that has constant (polar) moment of inertia has to behave as a rotating rigid body. Additionally, we remark how Saari's conjecture can be generalised well beyond the confines of the classical $n$-body problem.
We prove Saari's homographic conjecture for a large class of $n$-body problems with power law potentials, including the classical $n$-body problem.
We prove that positive elliptic-elliptic rotopulsator solutions of the $n$-body problem in spaces of constant Gaussian curvature that move on Clifford tori of nonconstant size either lie on great circles, or project onto regular polygons. We additionally prove for the case that the configurations project onto regular polygons that all masses are equal and show that all these different types of positive elliptic-elliptic rotopulsator exist.
We prove that equally spaced choreography solutions of a large class of $n$-body problems including the classical $n$-body problem and a subset of quasi-homogeneous $n$-body problems, have equal masses if the dimension of the space spanned by the point masses is $n-1$, $n-2$, or, if $n$ is odd, if the dimension is $n-3$. If $n$ is even and the dimension is $n-3$, then all masses with an odd label are equal and all masses with an even label are equal. Additionally, we prove that the same results hold true for any solution of an $n+1$-body problem for which $n$ of the point masses behave like an equally spaced choreography and the $n+1$st point mass is fixed at the origin. Furthermore, we deduce that if the curve along which the point masses of a choreography move has an axis of symmetry, the masses have to be equal if $n=3$ and that if $n=4$, if three of the point masses behave as stated and the fourth mass is fixed at a point, the masses of the first three point masses are all equal. Finally, we prove for the $n$-body problem in spaces of negative constant Gaussian curvature that if $n<6$, $n\neq 4$, equally spaced choreography solutions have to have equal masses, and for $n=4$ the even labeled masses are equal and the odd labeled masses are equal and that the same holds true for the $n$-body problem in spaces of positive constant Gaussian curvature, as long as the point masses do not move along a great circle. Additionally, we show that these last two results are also true for any solution to the $n+1$-body problem in spaces of negative constant Gaussian curvature and the $n+1$-body problem in spaces of positive constant Gaussian curvature respectively, for the case that $n$ of the point masses behave like an equally spaced choreography and the $n+1$st is fixed at a point.
Let $q_{1}$,...,$q_{n}$ be the position vectors of the point masses of the curved $n$-body problem. Consider any positive elliptic-elliptic rotopulsator solution $q_{i}^{T}=(r\cos{(θ+α_{i})},r\sin{(θ+α_{i})},ρ\cos{(ϕ+β_{i})},ρ\sin{(ϕ+β_{i})})$, $i\in\{1,...,n\}$, where $α_{1},...,α_{n},β_{1},...,β_{n}\in [0,2π)$ are constants, $ϕ$, $θ$, $r$ and $ρ$ are twice-differentiable, continuous, nonconstant functions, $r^{2}+ρ^{2}=1$, $r\geq 0$ and $ρ\geq 0$. We prove that the if the configuration of the point masses is of nonconstant size, the configuration of the vectors $(r\cos{(θ+α_{i})},r\sin{(θ+α_{i})})^{T}$ is a regular polygon, as is the configuration of the vectors $(ρ\cos{(ϕ+β_{i})},ρ\sin{(ϕ+β_{i})})^{T}$, $i\in\{1,...,n\}$.
We prove for a large class of n-body problems including a subclass of quasihomogeneous n-body problems, the classical n-body problem, the n-body problem in spaces of negative constant Gaussian curvature and a restricted case of the n-body problem in spaces of positive constant curvature for the case that all masses are equal and not necessarily constant that any solution for which the point masses move on a circle of not necessarily constant size has to be either a regular polygonal homographic orbit in flat space, or a regular polygonal rotopulsator in curved space, under the constraint that the minimal distance between point masses attains its minimum in finite time. Additionally, we prove that the same holds true if we add an extra mass at the center of that circle and find an explicit formula for the mass of each point particle in terms of the radius of the circle. Finally, we prove that for each order of the masses there is at most one polygonal homographic orbit for the case that the masses need not be constant.
We revisit polygonal positive elliptic rotopulsator solutions and polygonal negative elliptic rotopulsator solutions of the $n$-body problem in $\mathbb{H}^{3}$ and $\mathbb{S}^{3}$ and prove existence of these solutions, prove that the masses of these rotopulsators have to be equal if the rotopulsators are of nonconstant size and show that the number of negative elliptic relative equilibria of this type is finite, as is the number of positive elliptic relative equilibria if an upper bound on the size of the relative equilibrium is imposed. Additionally, we prove that a class of negative hyperbolic rotopulsators is in fact a subclass of the class of polygonal negative elliptic rotopulsators.
For the $n$-body problem in spaces of negative constant Gaussian curvature, we prove for a class of negative hyperbolic rotopulsators that if that class exists, the configurations of the point masses of these rotopulsators have to be regular polygons if the rotopulsators are not relative equilibria. Additionally, we prove that if the rotopulsators are relative equilibria, there exists at most one such solution.
We prove for generalisations of quasi-homogeneous $n$-body problems with center of mass zero and $n$-body problems in spaces of negative constant Gaussian curvature that if the masses and rotation are fixed, there exists, for every order of the masses, at most one equivalence class of relative equilibria for which the point masses lie on a circle, as well as that there exists, for every order of the masses, at most one equivalence class of relative equilibria for which all but one of the point masses lie on a circle and rotate around the remaining point mass. The method of proof is a generalised version of a proof by J.M. Cors, G.R. Hall and G.E. Roberts on the uniqueness of co-circular central configurations for power-law potentials.
We prove that if for relative equilibrium solutions of a generalisation of quasi-homogeneous $n$-body problems the masses and rotation are given, then the minimum distance between the point masses of such a relative equilibrium has a universal lower bound that is not equal to zero. We furthermore prove that the set of such relative equilibria is compact and prove related results for $n$-body problems in spaces of constant Gaussian curvature.
We prove that if for the curved $n$-body problem in $\mathbb{S}^{k-1}$, $k\geq 3$, the masses are given, the minimum distance between the point masses of a specific type of relative equilibrium solution that is a generalisation of positive elliptic relative equilibria and positive elliptic-elliptic relative equilibria has a universal lower bound that is not equal to zero.
We prove that if for the curved $n$-body problem the masses are given, the minimum distance between the point masses of a specific type of relative equilibrium solution to that problem has a universal lower bound that is not equal to zero. We furthermore prove that the set of all such relative equilibria is compact. This class of relative equilibria includes all relative equilibria of the curved $n$-body problem in $\mathbb{S}^{2}$, $\mathbb{H}^{2}$ and a significant subset of the relative equilibria for $\mathbb{S}^{3}$ and $\mathbb{H}^{3}$.
We prove that if for relative equilibrium solutions of a generalisation of the $n$-body problem of celestial mechanics the masses and rotation are given, then the minimum distance between the point masses of such a relative equilibrium has a universal lower bound that is not equal to zero. We furthermore prove that the set of such relative equilibria is compact.
It is well-known that the first and second Painlevé equations admit solutions characterised by divergent asymptotic expansions near infinity in specified sectors of the complex plane. Such solutions are pole-free in these sectors and called tronquée solutions by Boutroux. In this paper, we show that similar solutions exist for the third and fourth Painlevé equations as well.
We prove that if the masses of the $n$-body problem of celestial mechanics are given, the number of classes of relative equilibria that solve the $n$-body problem is finite.
We prove the existence of a class of rotopulsators for the n-body problem in spaces of constant curvature of dimension k>=2.
We prove that the geometry of the 2-dimensional $n$-body problem for spaces of constant curvature $κ\neq 0$, $n\geq 3$, does not allow for polygonal homographic solutions, provided that the corresponding orbits are irregular polygons of non-constant size.