#SciArtSeptember day 5: ‘Orbit’
It is well-known that the three-body problem does not have a general closed-form analytic solution. But there are many known periodic solutions of varying complexity. So I offer the attached ‘artistic’ plot of twelve of these periodic solutions, produced using a small Python program and the #Asymptote graphics language.
PNG attached. For the same image in vector format (SVG+PDF): https://ajcain.codeberg.page/posts/2026-09-05-three-body-periodic-solutions.html
(The image was used as an illustration at the start of the main text of my book ‘Form & Number: A History of Mathematical Beauty’ [https://archive.org/details/cain_formandnumber_ebook_large].)
1/2
