Discoveries / mathematical-physics

Maxwell's Conjecture on Point-Charge Equilibria

Do $n$ point charges whose electrostatic potential has only non-degenerate critical points always have at most $(n-1)^2$ of them? A configuration of five charges - three at the vertices of an equilateral triangle plus two small central charges pulled apart into a shallow bipyramid - has at least $24 > 16$ non-degenerate critical points, so the conjecture is false.