Generic finiteness for a class of symmetric planar central configurations of the six-body problem and the six-vortex problem

Abstract

A symmetric planar central configuration of the Newtonian six-body problem $x$ is called cross central configuration if there are precisely four bodies on a symmetry line of $x$. We use complex algebraic geometry and Groebner basis theory to prove that for a generic choice of positive real masses $m_1,m_2,m_3,m_4,m_5=m_6$ there is a finite number of cross central configurations. We also show one explicit example of a configuration in this class. A part of our approach is based on relaxing the output of the Groebner basis computations. This procedure allows us to obtain upper bounds for the dimension of an algebraic variety. We get the same results considering cross central configurations of the six-vortex problem.