[net.physics] numerical solutions of N-body problems

mike.rice%Rand-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (07/13/83)

From:  Mike.Caplinger <mike.rice@Rand-Relay>

A question asked a while back about N-body problems got me interested,
but I missed the answer, if there was one.  Does anybody have code to
do a better job of solution than the standard Feynman small-interval
method?  Preliminary results of mine indicate that that method takes
prohibitively long for accurate results, and I'm wondering about
variable-step algorithms.

My ultimate goal is a Thinglab-like system for throwing planets and
stars around, running on a Sun workstation, which makes a fun toy for
such problems.  Anyone have any suggestions?