Abstract:Abstract. The gravitational n-body problem is chaotic. Phase trajectories that start very near each other separate rapidly. The rate looks exponential over long times. At any instant, trajectories separated in certain directions move apart rapidly (unstable directions), while those separated in other directions stay about the same (stable directions). Unstable directions lie along eigenvectors that correspond to positive eigenvalues of the matrix of force gradients. The number of positive eigenvalues of that m… Show more
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