A general improbability result for non-collision singularities as subsystems with at most four particles
Abstract
Non-collision singularities of the n-body problem are initial conditions for which no global solution exists and which, however, do not lead to a collision in the limit; i.e., the moment of inertia of the system diverges. The question of whether the set of initial conditions leading to non-collision singularities in the n-body problem is improbable is open and is the first on Barry Simon's list of fifteen problems in mathematical physics from the year 1984. So far, this question has only been answered positively in the case n=4. Using a final cluster decomposition into subsystems whose particles interact strongly with each other and exert only small forces on particles from different subsystems, we can prove the improbability of the set of all singular orbits with the following conditions: -There may be arbitrarily many subsystems undergoing total collision at their center of mass. - There may be subsystems exhibiting a non-collision singularity, i.e. the respective moment of inertia of the subsystem diverges. These subsystems consist of exactly four particles each and the asymptotic directions of these subsystems have to differ (which is only a mild condition). This result includes all known statements and indicates a way how the general problem could be solved.
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{quaschner2026general,
title = {{A general improbability result for non-collision singularities as subsystems with at most four particles}},
author = {Manuel Quaschner},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.00876},
eprint = {2609.00876},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00876},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A general improbability result for non-collision singularities as subsystems with at most four particles
AU - Manuel Quaschner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.00876
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00876
AB - Non-collision singularities of the n-body problem are initial conditions for which no global solution exists and which, however, do not lead to a collision in the limit; i.e., the moment of inertia of the system diverges. The question of whether the set of initial conditions leading to non-collision singularities in the n-body problem is improbable is open and is the first on Barry Simon's list of fifteen problems in mathematical physics from the year 1984. So far, this question has only been answered positively in the case n=4. Using a final cluster decomposition into subsystems whose particles interact strongly with each other and exert only small forces on particles from different subsystems, we can prove the improbability of the set of all singular orbits with the following conditions: -There may be arbitrarily many subsystems undergoing total collision at their center of mass. - There may be subsystems exhibiting a non-collision singularity, i.e. the respective moment of inertia of the subsystem diverges. These subsystems consist of exactly four particles each and the asymptotic directions of these subsystems have to differ (which is only a mild condition). This result includes all known statements and indicates a way how the general problem could be solved.
ER -