Related papers: Stacked Central Configurations for Newtonian N+4-B…
We prove that there is a unique convex non-collinear central configuration of the planar Newtonian four-body problem when two equal masses are located at opposite vertices of a quadrilateral and, at most, only one of the remaining masses is…
A previous work introduced pair space, which is spanned by the center of mass of a system and the relative positions (pair positions) of its constituent bodies. Here, I show that in the $N$-body Newtonian problem, a configuration that does…
We study central configurations in the four body problem, i.e., configurations in which the forces on all the bodies point to a fixed, single point in space. The newly formulated pair-space formalism yields a set of vectorial equations that…
Central configurations play a fundamental role in the Newtonian $n$-body problem, as they give rise to motions in which the configuration evolves while preserving its shape up to rotation and scaling. These include relative equilibria,…
We study kite central configurations in the Newtonian four-body problem. We present a new proof that there exists a unique convex kite central configuration for a given choice of positive masses and a particular ordering of the bodies. Our…
We study the relationship between the masses and the geometric properties of central configurations. We prove that in the planar four-body problem, a convex central configuration is symmetric with respect to one diagonal if and only if the…
Central configurations play an important role in the dynamics of the $n$-body problem: they occur as relative equilibria and as asymptotic configurations in colliding trajectories. We illustrate how they can be found as projective fixed…
In this paper, we consider the problem: given a symmetric concave configuration of four bodies, under what conditions is it possible to choose positive masses which make it central. We show that there are some regions in which no central…
Central configurations are fundamental equilibrium solutions of the Newtonian $n$-body problem and play a key role in understanding the structure and dynamics of gravitational systems. However, the classification and enumeration of such…
In this paper we find a class of new degenerate central configurations and bifurcations in the Newtonian $n$-body problem. In particular we analyze the Rosette central configurations, namely a coplanar configuration where $n$ particles of…
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…
In this study, we present a rigorous analytical proof of the uniqueness of central configurations for the five-body problem, assuming that all five masses are equal and positioned at the vertices of a planar polygon. We consider…
We study four-body central configurations with one pair of opposite sides parallel. We use a novel constraint to write the central configuration equations in this special case, using distances as variables. We prove that, for a given…
Central configurations give rise to self-similar solutions to the Newtonian $N$-body problem, and play important roles in understanding its complicated dynamics. Even the simple question of whether or not there are finitely many planar…
A new coordinate system on the tangent space to planar configurations is introduced to simplify some calculations on central configurations and relative equilibria in the $N$-body problem with a homogeneous potential, which includes the…
We study the problem of planar central configurations with $N$ heavy bodies and $k$ bodies with arbitrary small masses. We derive the equation which describe the limit of light masses going to zero, which can be seen as the equation for…
We construct explicit examples of really perverse central configurations in the spatial Newtonian $N$-body problem. A central configuration is called really perverse if it satisfies the central configuration equations for two distinct mass…
We consider the $N$-body problem of celestial mechanics in spaces of nonzero constant curvature. Using the concept of locked inertia tensor, we compute the moment of inertia for systems moving on spheres and hyperbolic spheres and show that…
The configuration of a homothetic motion in the N-body problem is called a central configuration. In this paper, we prove that there are exactly three planar non-collinear central configurations for masses x, -x, y, -y with x different from…
Using geometric mechanics methods, we examine aspects of the dynamics of n mass points in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with a general pairwise potential. We investigate the central force problem, set up the n-body problem and discuss certain properties…