Any interest in a spacetime diagram generator?

[Freixas]

Hi,

I've written a script-based spacetime diagram generator. I have no idea if it has any value for anyone besides myself—you may have access to better tools than I do. When I looked for spacetime generators, I only found some very limited web tools and one downloadable program that wasn't much better. All of these were GUI-based, which is a big part of the problem.

I am in no way a physicist, just a layman curious about special relativity. If someone here would benefit from such a tool, I would benefit from having a professional set of eyes review it. At this point, consider this alpha-level software. There are probably still some bugs and I may make some drastic changes if I get some good suggestions.

Since it's script-based, you'll need to read the instructions—or you can skip ahead to the examples.

The diagram generator, like any tool, could be improved. I have some ideas for it:

• Labels.
• Some way of assigning variables, so that some global changes could be made in just one place. This could include variable assignment that allowed some math, or at least some function calls (such as a Lorentz transform).
• A method of chaining worldlines from series of constant velocity and constant acceleration worldlines, with the ability to draw the instantaneous moving frame (IMF) at any point.
• A better way of drawing lines of simultaneity between worldlines.

I have no idea if I'll get to any of these. I'm just one guy working on this in his spare time.

 

[Nugatory]

Even if you don't get any immediate positive responses, it might be worth moving the project to github or sourceforge.