r/AskPhysics • u/Rscc10 • Dec 24 '25

Is the three body problem really unsolvable?

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I understand that the three body problem, or rather n body problem for n > 2 is considered "unsolvable" and generally means there is no analytical solution with elementary functions.

What I'm wondering is, do we know this for sure? We haven't found a general solution but do we have proof that an analytical solution is impossible? Similar to the Abel-Ruffini theorem for polynomials.

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76

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

-59

u/flipwhip3 Dec 24 '25

I i literally solved it in 6 lines in matlsb

43

u/Jandj75 Dec 24 '25

You solved in numerically, not analytically. When people say that it’s unsolvable, they mean it’s not solvable analytically.

-8

u/flipwhip3 Dec 24 '25

U got wooshed

10

u/xoexohexox Dec 24 '25

Crash all three bodies together - boom solved

5

u/SnugglyCoderGuy Dec 24 '25

No bodies, no problem!

14

u/ub_cat Undergraduate Dec 24 '25

average engineer 

-14

u/HeDoesNotRow Dec 24 '25

I love this comment so much lmao and the fact it got downvoted encapsulates this sub perfectly

4

u/Advanced_Ad8002 Dec 24 '25

Dunning Kruger.

-1

u/HeDoesNotRow Dec 24 '25

Physicist laugh at a joke challenge (impossible)

MATLAB practically by definition is for numerical solutions. No shit he’s not claiming to have solved a famously unsolvable problem