3 Body Problem

I'm now into FALLOUT on Prime. Which has the "Westworld" vibe.
Funny and very enjoyable.

And SHOGUN is very good.
 
Vio said:
Problem with reading the books is I don't remember who's who by name :|
Shogun is awesome. In between the release of the episodes I started to watch Kurosawa's movies again
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Yeah, maybe my aging brain, but it was hard keeping track of the Chinese names for me.
 
yek said:
I'm now into FALLOUT on Prime. Which has the "Westworld" vibe.
Funny and very enjoyable.

And Shogun is very good.
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I didn't know Fallout was out. I heard something about them making one last year I think. I never played the game, but it sort of looked like something that would be fun.
 
I'm still in the middle -- I'm an anti-binge watcher. I'm definitely curious about the Chinese series.

"Bad" physics observation #3:

Alpha Centauri is indeed a trinary star system currently about 4 light-years away from us. However it is in a "hierarchical" configuration consisting of a binary system of two sun-like stars (designated A and B) in relatively close proximity (11-35 AU) and one very distant red dwarf star Alpha Proxima ("C") 13,000 AU (0.2 LY). This means it is not a "3 body system" with chaotic dynamics. Because Proxima is far from the other two strongly bound stars, it reacts to their total mass, not each individually. This is similar to why moons around planets are stable in the Solar System.

Relative_positions_of_Sun,_Alpha_Centauri_AB_and_Proxima_Centauri(1).pngScreen Shot 2024-04-12 at 11.38.05 AM.png

Due to nonlinear chaotic dynamics, it is believed that any real celestial 3-body system can only last hundreds or thousands of years before flying apart, perhaps with a stable binary remaining or settling into a hierarchical arrangement (very rare unless already in that configuration). While there are very special mathematical cases that have "stable" orbits these involve precise masses and arrangements of the 3 bodies. Any tiny perturbation will eventually disrupt these (much like the butterfly effect). This doesn't include effects from general relativity which further complicates these systems.

Cixin Liu admits this while using science fiction license:
For example, the initial inspiration for writing The Three-Body Problem came from a paper about the three-body problem in classical mechanics, which involves the motion of three bodies under mutual gravitational attraction and is unpredictable under current mathematics and physics. I read the paper and suddenly thought: what if the three bodies were three suns? How would intelligent life on one of the planets in such a system develop? This was a good science-fictional idea — based on solid science but also evocative of interesting stories. But to go back to real science, we have not, to date, discovered any trinary star systems in which the stars move in this chaotic manner.
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So far the only exoplanets that have been observed in the Centauri system are around Proxima: an Earth-sized planet in its habitable zone (Proxima b), and a smaller planet that orbits very closely (Proxima d). Proxima c is possible Neptune-like planet orbiting Proxima as well. There might be a Neptune-sized planet orbiting one of the binaries.

What we do know about Alpha Centauri cool in itself, and perhaps we do have living neighbors only 4 LY away. If so, I hope they aren't simultaneously intelligent, technologically advanced and mean.
 
yyz67 said:
very rare unless already in that configuration
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I assumed that was the explanation here: the trisolar's home world was this very rare exception. The universe being infinite and all that, it's out there, right?

yyz67 said:
Alpha Centauri
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Did the show claim the trisolar's were from Alpha Centauri? I must have totally missed that!
 
iaresee said:
Did the show claim the trisolar's were from Alpha Centauri? I must have totally missed that!
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Evidently, yes, in the books (but I haven't confirmed). In the series it might not be explicit but implied due to distance.
 
iaresee said:
The universe being infinite and all that, it's out there, right?
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Well, the math says no, at least none that could last millions or billions of years. Lui admits as much. Even if it might be possible, for one to be next-door would be extremely unlikely. But that's besides the point for sci-fi.

Perhaps there could be a strange circumstance that allows both chaos and long-term stability somehow. For example the asteroid belt is chaotic and likely as old as the solar system (but it very much not the same as 3 massive bodies in orbit). OTOH, Saturn's rings are chaotic and relatively young and are expected to disappear in 100-300 million years.

We could be wrong though!
 
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I'm also a physicist... and every time I notice things in science fiction movies/shows that are just plain nonsense, I just tell myself that this movie/show is set in an alternate universe where the rules of physics are a little different than here! That helps! :tearsofjoy: :smile: :tearsofjoy:
 
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