Central configurations of the five-body problem with two isosceles triangles
This article addresses the question of whether there is a central configuration of five bodies, formed by two isosceles triangles with a common axis of symmetry. Let \((m_1,\dots, m_5)\) be the masses of the five bodies and \((q_1,\dots, q_5)\) the position vectors in the plane. For the proof of the main result, the authors make use of the Dziobek-Laura-Andoyer algebraic equations, which are satisfied by non-collinear central configurations. These are expressed in terms of the mutual distances \(r_{ij} = \|q_i - q_j \|\) as follows \[ f_{ij}:= \sum_{\stackrel{k=1}{k\neq i,j}}^5 m_k (R_{ik}-R_{jk})\Delta_{ijk}=0, \quad \text{for} \quad 1\leq i < j \leq 5,\tag{1} \] where \(R_{ij}=1/r_{ij}^3\) and \(\Delta_{ijk}=(q_i - q_j)\wedge (q_i- q_k)\) is twice the oriented area of the triangle with vertices \({q}_i\), \(q_j\) and \(q_k\). The following result is proved: Theorem. Consider a non-collinear configuration with five bodies in a plane distributed in the following way: three bodies, denoted by 1, 2 and 3, are at the vertices of an isosceles triangle, and two bodies, denoted by 4 and 5, are symmetrically positioned with respect to the mediatrix of the segment joining the bodies 1 and 2. Then: \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] The assumed symmetry implies that \(m_1=m_2\) and \(m_4=m_5\); \item[(2)] We can present two necessary and sufficient geometrical conditions such that the equations (1) have a solution with explicit expressions for the masses \(m_1\), \(m_3\) and \(m_4\). Furthermore, for each fixed ratio \(m_4/m_1 > 0\), the respective central configurations (i.e., with positive masses) can be listed as: \begin{itemize} \item[(2a)] Six different families (connected components) \(C_1,\dots , C_6\), if \(m_1\neq m_4\), \(m_4/m_1\neq 0.1385944346\) and \(m_1/m_4\neq 0.1385944346\); \item[(2b)] Three different families (connected components) \(C_1=C_4\), \(C_2=C_5\) and \(C_3=C_6\), if \(m_1=m_4\); \item[(2c)] Five different families (connected components) \(C_1\), \(C_2=C_3\), \(C_4\), \(C_5\) and \(C_6\), if \(m_4/m_1=0.1385944346\) and \(C_1\), \(C_2\), \(C_3\), \(C_4\), and \(C_5=C_6\), if \(m_1/m_4= 0.1385944346\). \end{itemize} \end{itemize} The geometry and ratio of masses of the six families of central configurations \(C_1, \dots, C_6\), for \(m_4/m_1=0.2\), are illustrated.
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