Simple Physics and Integrators Accurately Reproduce Mercury Instability Statistics
Simple Physics and Integrators Accurately Reproduce Mercury Instability Statistics
The long-term stability of the Solar System is an issue of significant scientific and philosophical interest. The mechanism leading to instability is Mercury's eccentricity being pumped up so high that Mercury either collides with Venus or is scattered into the Sun. Previously, only three five-billion-year $N$-body ensembles of the Solar …