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To: js1138
I'm not sure what you mean by absolute stability. I can compute the evolution of a three body system from initial conditions. Cal Tech did a big Solar System computation extending over about 4,000,000 years.

Of course, it does get more difficult to simulate the system for longer times.
990 posted on 02/26/2003 7:28:09 AM PST by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: Doctor Stochastic
4,000,000 years.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was impossible, due to the "butterfly effect", to carry this calculation out indefinitely. I thought errors in precision would eventually accumulate and become overwhelming.

I only brought it up because I was challenged on the issue of determinism. I argued that determinism in the physical world was just an assumption and had not been demonstrated, even in classical physics.

If it is impossible to specify critical parameters to the necessary precision in the Newtonian world, it is impossible to demonstrate hard determinism, even in theory.

991 posted on 02/26/2003 7:42:04 AM PST by js1138
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