A counterexample to Ulam's problem 19 from the Scottish Book (Q6561739)

The paper contains a historical presentation of the research referring to Problem 19, published by S.M. Ulam in Scottish Notebook in 1935. This problem is: ``A solid of uniform density that floats in water in equilibrium at any position must be spherical'' (according to \textit{S. M. Ulam}, see [A collection of mathematical problems. Interscience Publishers, New York, NY (1960; Zbl 0086.24101)]). D. Ryabogin has constructed a counterexample, solving this problem in [\textit{D. Ryabogin}, Geom. Dedicata 217, No. 4, Paper No. 70, 17 p. (2023; Zbl 1517.51007)]. \N\NThe authors refer to this problem reformulated as follows: ``A convex body \(K\) of constant density floats in equilibrium in all directions if and only if the sections of \(K\) through each of the planes of the liquid surface all have their moments of inertia equal and constant in all directions''. It is shown that this reformulation allows to write a system of integral equations that governs flotation in equilibrium. This system of equations leads to constructing a counterexample consisting of a body of revolution very close to the unit sphere. This is obtained as a perturbed solution of a system of integro-differential equations for which the unit sphere constitutes the unperturbed solution. Related problems and results are included: the two-dimensional version of the Ulam problem, the Falconer proof, and the floating body problems associated with a convex body.