Kepler's Platonic Model and Its Application to Exoplanetary Systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Wang, Ji
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wang, Ji
author_facet Wang, Ji
contents Johannes Kepler's attempt to explain the arrangement of the six innermost planets of the Solar System using his Platonic Solid Model-which postulates that planetary orbits are nested within the five Platonic solids-was ultimately unsuccessful. However, while his model failed to describe our own planetary system, Kepler was remarkably prescient in hypothesizing the existence of exoplanetary systems that might conform to this geometric framework. In this study, we analyze all known multiple exoplanet systems containing three to six planets and identify those that best match the Keplerian Platonic model. Using a semi-major-axis (SMA) ratio metric defined as the sum of squared differences between observed and theoretical semi-major-axis ratios, we find that the most well-matched three-, four-, five-, and six-planet exoplanetary systems exhibit significantly lower discrepancy values $(4.38 \times 10^{-6}, 1.05 \times 10^{-2}, 8.21 \times 10^{-2}$, and $2.43 \times 10^{-1}$, respectively) compared to the inner six planets of the Solar System at 12.68. These results demonstrate that Kepler's Platonic Model is applicable to certain exoplanetary systems, suggesting that while the Solar System does not adhere to this idealized structure, other planetary systems may be governed by underlying geometric and mathematical principles akin to Kepler's vision. This study highlights the special nature of these exoplanetary systems and their potential alignment with the Platonic five-element framework.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_22793
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Kepler's Platonic Model and Its Application to Exoplanetary Systems
Wang, Ji
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Johannes Kepler's attempt to explain the arrangement of the six innermost planets of the Solar System using his Platonic Solid Model-which postulates that planetary orbits are nested within the five Platonic solids-was ultimately unsuccessful. However, while his model failed to describe our own planetary system, Kepler was remarkably prescient in hypothesizing the existence of exoplanetary systems that might conform to this geometric framework. In this study, we analyze all known multiple exoplanet systems containing three to six planets and identify those that best match the Keplerian Platonic model. Using a semi-major-axis (SMA) ratio metric defined as the sum of squared differences between observed and theoretical semi-major-axis ratios, we find that the most well-matched three-, four-, five-, and six-planet exoplanetary systems exhibit significantly lower discrepancy values $(4.38 \times 10^{-6}, 1.05 \times 10^{-2}, 8.21 \times 10^{-2}$, and $2.43 \times 10^{-1}$, respectively) compared to the inner six planets of the Solar System at 12.68. These results demonstrate that Kepler's Platonic Model is applicable to certain exoplanetary systems, suggesting that while the Solar System does not adhere to this idealized structure, other planetary systems may be governed by underlying geometric and mathematical principles akin to Kepler's vision. This study highlights the special nature of these exoplanetary systems and their potential alignment with the Platonic five-element framework.
title Kepler's Platonic Model and Its Application to Exoplanetary Systems
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22793