Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-25T07:55:15.495Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Isosceles trapezoid central configurations of the Newtonian four-body problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2012

Zhifu Xie
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Virginia State University, Petersburg, Virginia 23806, USA (zxie@vsu.edu)

Abstract

We use a simple direct and basic method to prove that there is a unique isosceles trapezoid central configuration of the planar Newtonian four-body problem when two pairs of equal masses are located at adjacent vertices of a trapezoid. Such isosceles trapezoid central configurations are an exactly one-dimensional family. Explicit expressions for masses are given in terms of the size of the quadrilateral.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)