Four-body co-circular central configurations

Abstract

We classify the set of central configurations lying on a common circle in the Newtonian four-body problem. Using mutual distances as coordinates, we show that the set of four-body co-circular central configurations with positive masses is a two-dimensional surface, a graph over two of the exterior side-lengths. Two symmetric families, the kite and isosceles trapezoid, are investigated extensively. We also prove that a co-circular central configuration requires a specific ordering of the masses and find explicit bounds on the mutual distances. In contrast to the general four-body case, we show that if any two masses of a four-body co-circular central configuration are equal, then the configuration has a line of symmetry.