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Why is it that we humans can't solve the three-body-problem? (calculate the positions of the 3 bodies in a dynamical system)

And why can computers do it?

My thoughts:

Computers do it in way smaller steps then us humans, and if we tried to replicate what the computer does, it would take ages.

stafusa
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HeeysamH
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1 Answers1

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Computers can't.

You're right that they perform numerical integration way faster than we can, but, slower or faster, it's believed that neither people nor computers can solve the three-body problem. At least not in the sense of finding a closed-form, analytical solution.

These small-step calculations computers do produce only approximations to the solutions.

It's worth pointing out again, though, that the three-body problem is expected to be non-integrable. There's no proof yet.

stafusa
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