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Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
Fans of Larry Niven's Ringworld have been told for decades that the design is unstable against gravitational forces and would be torn apart eventually (the strength of scrith notwithstanding).
( Locations of the seven equilibrium points (L)
in a ring system and the circular collision
sets Σ1 and Σ2 for the equal mass case in units
where the ring radius is one.)
Now a scientist from Scotland, UK has shown that certain configurations of these objects near a two-mass system can be stable against such fractures. The work is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society."I read 'Ringworld' and 'Ringworld Engineers' as a student, so I've long been fascinated by engineering on astronomical scales," said Colin McInnes of the Larry Niven Ringworld series of hard sci-fi novels. McInnes is a professor of engineering science and holder of the James Watt Chair at the University of Glasgow in Scotland...
McInnes considered a restricted three-body problem where two equal masses orbit each other circularly with a uniform ring of infinitesimal mass rotating in their orbital plane. The ring could enclose both masses, just one or none.
McInnes also investigated a shell-restricted three-body problem with the shell also of infinitesimal mass, again with the shell enclosing two masses, one or none.
For the restricted ring, McInnes found that there are seven equilibrium points in the orbital plane of the dual masses, on which, if the ring's center were placed, it would stay and not experience stresses, akin to the three stable Lagrange points where a small mass can reside permanently for the two-body problem.
I have dozens of excerpts from Ringworld with some of Niven's best ideas.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/5/2025)
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