i guess an interesting way to learn how you could approximate 3 body interactions… while accepting your prediction is probably kinda trash.
but the periodic solutions do look 🔥
I was introduced to the 3 Body Problem by Dr. Wade Hsu during USC’s SHINE Summer Research Program. I was in the middle of self-studying AP Physics, and gravitation seemed simple enough. All that really mattered was Newton’s Law of Gravitation, basic knowledge of kinematics and vectors, and it’s a done deal… right?
Nope!
To put it simply, the 3BP kinda broke my brain! I found it crazy that one could create a common example of literal mathematical chaos using the simple equations I learned in AP Physics 1.
Through Dr. Hsu’s presentation and some digging around the internet, I learned that one could find both chaotic and periodic solutions. Simply put, I found them beautiful.
 |  |
|---|---|
| Left: non-periodic | Right: periodic |
To learn about this further (and also practice Matlab lol), I modeled some of these cases using Verlet’s approximation. I hope to showcase some more in the near future!
You can read about it in my repo here. Enjoy!