Central configurations, symmetries and fixed points

dc.creatorFerrario, Davide L.
dc.date2002-04-15
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T04:47:43Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T04:47:43Z
dc.descriptionPlanar central configurations can be seen as critical points of the reduced potential or solutions of a system of equations. By the homogeneity and invariance of the potential with respect to SO(2), it is possible to see that the SO(2)-orbits of central configurations are fixed points of a suitable map f. The purpose of the paper is to define this map and to derive some properties using topological fixed point theory. The generalized Moulton-Smale theorem for collinear configurations is proved, together with some estimates on the number of central configurations in the case of 3 bodies, using fixed point indexes. Well-known results such as the compactness of the set of central configuration can also be proved in an easy way in this topological framework. At the end of the paper some tables of (numerical) planar central configurations of n equal masses with Newtonian potential are given, for n=3,..., 10. They have been computed as the fixed points of a suitable self-map of R^{2(n-2)}.
dc.description47 pages; 160 figures
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/math/0204198
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/math/0204198
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/63829
dc.subjectDynamical Systems
dc.subjectAlgebraic Topology
dc.subject70F10; 37C25
dc.titleCentral configurations, symmetries and fixed points
dc.typetext

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