Culbertson, George Edward2014-03-142014-03-141970-03-05etd-09082012-040238http://hdl.handle.net/10919/39308Halphen's Theorem states that, "A necessary and sufficient condition for every dynamical trajectory in a positional field of force in E3 to be planar is that the field of force is either parallel or central." This result has been known for some time, however only the sufficiency part of the theorem is widely documented. A new analytic proof of the necessity part of Halphen's Theorem was developed. The details of this proof motivated the new concepts of a flat point in a field of force and a flat point on a dynamical trajectory in a positional field of force.vii, 120 leavesBTDapplication/pdfenIn CopyrightLD5655.V856 1970.C8Curves, PlaneSpace trajectoriesDissertationhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09082012-040238/